Proving Innocence
by MewLuna
Summary: Duncan is accused for murder and the only one who believes him is young lawyer Courtney. Now a lawyer for a delinquent, Courtney is thrown into danger mystery and romance. Can her and Duncan pull through? Or will the dangers of the truth be to great? R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Proving Innocence: By Luna Mrow**

**Chapter One: The Case at Hand**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters of TDI/TDA/TDWT. This disclaimer will stretch out to all my chapters so I don't have to repeat myself.

My name is Courtney Vega. I'm nineteen and I'm currently the youngest lawyer in Canada. It may seem surprising that for being so young I'm already a court lawyer, like the kind of people you see on T.V. where I stand in front of the judge and try to defend clients. Well that's partly because my older brother pulled some strings because he teaches for the most popular law school in Canada- Weston Prep School of Law.

However it's not like I didn't work hard to be where I am. I happily sacrificed almost every Saturday and Friday night, and almost all my free time studying the law. Because one day I'm going to have a client who's going to need my help, one day I'm going to be the best lawyer around, one day I might even be running for governor! But governor is a long term goal. My current goal is to get a client, a case, _anything_. I know I'm ready for whatever comes my way. At least, I thought I did. That was before I met a delinquent and my life got turned upside down…

_Friday, 6:52 P.M. _

"Come on Courtney! Come out and have some fun with us!" my best friend Bridgette exclaimed. She banged on my bedroom door to purposely annoy me.

"I have a ton of studying to do Bridge!" I called back to her. "Just go have fun without me."

"I _always_ have fun without you! Tonight I want to have fun with you. The past couple weeks you've been locked away in your room studying law book after law book. Time to get out and socialize!"

Bridgette, Gwen and I are best friends and roommates living in Bridgette's dad's house. Between the three of us we always had rent and bills paid and I liked living with my two friends. Except when Bridgette pulled this on me. She always thought of me to be a zombie with no social life. Maybe that's been true the past two weeks but that's because I've been studying; I've got goals. Gwen understands the space I need, sometimes I wish Bridgette would.

"Okay, look if you give me ten minutes I'll come out and join you," I sighed, giving up.

"Hooray!" Bridgette squealed. "So you'll come with me to dinner with Geoff at Olive Garden?"

"I never said that!"

"Courtney!" Bridgette whined.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes. If you give me ten more minutes of peace I'll join you and Geoff for dinner."

"Hooray!" Bridgette squealed once again. I couldn't help but smile at her effervescent personality. Bridgette only pushed me to go out because she cared for me.

I slammed my 768 paged law text book shut and went up to my mirror, making sure I looked good enough for dinner. A plain purple tee hung loosely on my shoulders and my legs were covered with average black Levi jeans. Dressing casual was rare for me, since you can't show up to court like a slob. So slipping on my purple converses I went out of my room and across the hall to Gwen's room.

My relationship with Gwen was sometimes rocky, but we survived our quarrels and became best friends. She was very independent and very creative by all the drawings hung up on her dark painted walls. There were times she seemed distant, but if it was one thing Gwen respected it was space, which I gladly gave back to her. She wasn't nearly as bubbly and as social as Bridgette, but she had a good heart and I'm lucky to have someone who can put up with me.

I knocked on her door lightly then opened it to find her drawing at her desk blasting her favorite band Evanescence. "Hey Courtney," she greeted casually. "What can I get you?"

"Away from Bridgette," I answered jokingly.

She smiled. "Bridge invited me to dinner but I gave her the excuse I had an upset stomach."

"I should've thought of something like that," I mumbled. Crap now I forgot what I came in here for. Oh that's right. "Can I borrow your black hat? They match my jeans," I asked her.

Gwen nodded and tossed her black hat to me. "Try and have fun, okay?"

"Yeah," I smiled, putting on her hat.

I turned around to leave and as I walked downstairs I heard Gwen call, "Bring me back breadsticks!"

When I came down the stairs I saw Bridgette dressed up in a light blue sleeveless dress that came up to the middle of her calves, with white leggings and a matching white vest. "You're going to like my boyfriend Geoff. He's really sweet," Bridgette said.

"Boyfriend?" I asked puzzled.

She sighed. "Yeah Court, we've been going out for like three weeks."

"But you met him three weeks ago at that bonfire."

Bridgette smiled. "I work fast." I returned her smile and rolled my eyes, and we both walked out the door and started walking to Olive Garden (which was a reasonable distance away).

Geoff was a little crazy if you ask me. He was a total party boy. However I must say he was perfect for Bridgette. Immediately I could feel the sparks between them when we walked into the restaurant and sat down with Geoff at a table. Did watching them get all lovey-dovey with each other all night making me feel like a third wheel feel good? No. But I was happy for Bridgette. I still have to meet my perfect guy. But boys aren't my priority, becoming a lawyer is. Well technically I am a lawyer, I just need a _case_.

Bridgette and Geoff were busy staring into each other's eyes while eating cheesy ravioli, and I was munching down on breadsticks and minestrone soup. But finally the two love birds snapped out of their own little world and Geoff asked, "So what do you like to do Courtney?"

It surprised me that he started a conversation but I'm glad he did. "I'm a studying lawyer," I answered, trying not to make my voice sound boring.

He raised a brow. "Like those dudes from Law and Order?"

"Kind of," Bridgette giggled. "She's currently trying to find a case. Aren't you Court?"

I nodded. Surprisingly Geoff fell silent, so Bridgette and I did small talk about a random TV show. But finally after ten minutes or so, Geoff finally spoke up and said, "So do you think you'll be able to help me out?"

"With what?" I asked.

"You're not getting sued, are you?" Bridgette asked jokingly.

"No. I have a friend who was convicted for a crime he's innocent for, and he's been in jail for a few weeks. But tomorrow he's having a trial and he has no lawyer or anything. If he does get one and if you can prove that my buddy is innocent…" Geoff drifted off for a second lost in thought, "then maybe he won't go to prison."

I was in shock. I knew absolutely nothing about Geoff's friend, if I can even _be _his lawyer, and if I was in any way prepared for this! But I did know one thing- this opportunity won't come twice. So all I could answer with was, "I'll come to the trial tomorrow and we'll see what happens."

Geoff's eyes were filled with shining gratitude. "Thank you," he said, almost whispered. "That really means a lot."

Bridgette wrapped an arm around his. "You got a suit for the trial honey?"

"You have to wear a suit?"

I smiled and rolled my eyes. Tomorrow was going to be huge.

**Author Note: **This is my first D/C fic. Just so you all know, I'm not a diehard D/C fan, but they fit this story I've had in my head awhile. And for future reference, what I write happens in court probably doesn't happen like that in real life. But you bend rules for stories :D Please review, and thank you for reading!


	2. The Crazy Judge and the Accused

**Chapter Two: The Crazy Judge and the Accused**

When Bridgette and I got home I gave Gwen my leftover bread sticks (she was extremely grateful and impressed I remembered) and then I went straight to bed. I'm pretty sure I was still in shock that I had a potential case. There's just one more problem at hand: is my client guilty or innocent?

In the morning I woke up before my alarm clock went off which was set at 5:00 A.M. The trial started at 8:00 sharp, and if you want to make a good impression to the judge and jury you show up early.

5:30 rolled around and I was blow drying my hair. I tied it back in a superior pony tail and then put on a black suit with a purple undershirt below it and black heels. Crap I probably look twenty-nine not nineteen. So I let my pony tail loose and rolled up the sleeves of my jacket so it went halfway up my arms. Better. Not much better, but better nonetheless.

At 7:00 Bridgette woke up and was ready to go to the trial (she wanted to tag along to support me and because Geoff was there). Gwen had online college classes she needed to take so she couldn't go with us, but wished me luck the night before.

"Come on Bridge! It's 7:20 and I've still got to find the courthouse!" I yelled up the stairs.

"Hold on!" Bridgette replied. After a few minutes she came downstairs and was dressed in a knee length ocean blue skirt with a white ruffled tank top underneath a matching ocean blue jacket. "I feel like I'm going to church," she said dully.

I laughed. "When you're in court, you might as well dress like you're in church."

_Saturday, 7:45 A.M. Vancouver Courthouse_

I took a seat in the audience close up behind where the defendant would sit. Bridgette sat on the left of me, Geoff right next to her. Surprisingly Geoff did wear a suit and he didn't look half bad. "Who's the judge?" I whispered to Geoff.

"He's a new judge that used to do cases on TV like Judge Judy and stuff. But now he does serious cases with no cameras. I forgot his name but all I know is that he's a crazy guy," Geoff whispered back.

"Crazy how?"

"You'll see. But look, there's my friend right now!" Geoff pointed to the doors.

And who entered in almost made my heart sink… with nerves. A tall, white guy who looked my age came in with a green mohawk on top of his head with the rest of his hair black. He had multiple piercings all over him, including a nose ring and I also noticed a few tattoos. But what really popped out to me where his deep teal eyes. Wow. I have never seen anything so intriguing then those eyes. But my little trance was cut off, when a sly smirk went across his face. He sat down in front of me in the defendant's seat, turned his seat around and greeted me with, "Hey sexy lady."

UGH! Did he just greet me like that? Did he seriously just greet me like that? "Don't talk to me like that you ogre!" I snapped.

He smiled. "Touchy, touchy. So what brings you here, princess?"

"Don't call me princess," I growled. Wow, literally one minute has passed and I already don't like this guy.

Luckily Geoff intervened. "This is Courtney Vega. Courtney, this is Duncan Adams."

To be polite I replied, "Nice to meet you," as I extended my hand.

"_Really _nice to meet you too," he purred. Instinctively I pulled my hand back (something told me the last thing I want is for him to touch me) and Duncan laughed.

That was when I noticed Duncan's hands were handcuffed together and he was wearing an orange jumpsuit. "How long have you been incarcerated?" I asked.

He raised a brow. "Why do you want to know princess?"

"Because I need to know-,"

"ALL RISE FOR THE HONORABLE JUDGE MCLEAN!" a big black cop shouted, who stood next to where the judge would sit. **(A/N **Imagine in the show Judge Judy how she always has a cop next to her, that's Chef's position. And I rofled when I typed what he just said lol XD**) **

The cop was huge and had a mean scowl across his face. "Who's that?" Bridgette whispered to Geoff.

"That's Chef Hatchet. He's always with the judge. If you were smart you'd call him Chef, because I've heard rumors of everyone calling him otherwise have… not been seen again. Really scary dude. Watch out for him," Geoff answered.

As he said that Bridgette stared right at Chef. Chef then gave her a death glare and growled, Bridgette squeaking nervously and turning away.

Then the judge Chris McLean came in. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, white, and had black hair that looked like he spent two hours blow drying. Immediately I knew this was not your typical court. "Thank you," Chris said to Chef. "You may all sit." He sat down in his seat and grabbed his gavel. "Before we begin this court case I would just like to ask how everyone likes my hair?"

… What? Everyone was too confused to answer, until Chef roared, "HE SAID HE'D LIKE TO KNOW IF YOU LIKE HIS HAIR!"

"Yeah, it's great," everyone in the courtroom mumbled awkwardly.

"Thanks, I think so too," Chris smiled approvingly. He banged his gavel and announced, "Court is in session!"

It was extremely hard to pay attention to the trial case, because a certain delinquent kept staring at me, which made me feel nervous. "Pay attention!" I slightly hissed to Duncan.

"Not my fault if you look hot in that suit, sweetheart," he replied.

"This is _your _court case. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" I asked him through gritted teeth.

He shrugged. "It's not like anyone is going to believe me." His teal eyes went soft, and I unclenched my jaw. Then we directed our attention to who was currently standing up talking in front of the judge.

It was a tall gawky boy with orange hair and geeky looking glasses. He wore a gray suit that was looked too small on him, and he reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite. "Your honor," he began, "My name is Harold Norbert Cheever Doris McGrady the Fifth, and I am defending the-,"

"Whoa," Chris interrupted. "Is that seriously your name?"

"Yeah."

"That really sucks man."

"It happens to be a one of a kind name! **Gosh!** Anyway, I'm representing the plaintiff Heather Ginger against the accused murderer Duncan Adams. I would further like to state that-,"

"Yeah, yeah we know the story," Chris interrupted.

Wait! That doesn't mean I know what happened! I still have no idea what's going on here!

"So do you have any evidence to prove you're not guilty?" Chris asked Duncan.

"Nope," Duncan answered.

"Do you have a lawyer?"

"No."

Chris sighed. "Then for failure to defend your case I find the defendant guil-,"

"WAIT!" I exclaimed, standing up from my seat. Oh my god. I just interrupted the _judge._

Everyone turned around to look at me, and for one second I looked into Duncan's teal eyes. For that one second I stared into his eyes and I saw something I had never seen before. Did I have any idea what he was convicted and accused for? No. Can I really find evidence with his case? No. But for that long, long, second I saw something in his eyes- **innocence**. And that's when I knew that whatever happens I have to try and defend him. I have to try my best.

That second ended and I realized everyone was waiting for an explanation. "I am Duncan Adams lawyer, Courtney Vega." I stated. In the corner of my eye I saw Duncan's jaw drop and his eyes grow wide. "Your honor, if you would please let the record show I am his lawyer, and allow us some time to gather evidence for this case, I can supply an argument against the accuser."

Chris rubbed the stubble on his chin. "I dunno," he stammered.

Time to kiss some ass. "That windblown look on your hair really brings out the respect and authority you clearly have, over all of us adolescences. It is clear that your hair inspires us to be better people." I lied to him.

"I think so too. Okay, I will allow three weeks for you and Mr. Adams to prove his case. But he will remain on probation and is not allowed to leave town. Understood?"

I nodded. "Yes, your honor."

"Okay then. I will see all of you in court in precisely three weeks, same time at 8:00 A.M. Court adjourned!" Chris exclaimed, banging his gavel. He turned to Chef, "Let's go get some hash browns."

"Way ahead of you," Chef grinned. As Harold and the plaintiff Heather gathered up their stuff Heather flashed me a wicked glare; which I gladly returned.

"Courtney! That was amazing!" Bridgette squealed, Geoff nodding in agreement.

"Uh, yeah," I stammered. Then my gaze met with Duncan's. He still had a look of disbelief on his face.

"Why are you going to help me?" he asked in a low voice.

I sighed. "Honestly… I don't know."

He smirked slyly. "Well looks like we'll spend a lot of time together for the next three weeks princess."

I gulped. What did I just do?

**Author Note: **So now the story escalates! The thought of having Chris McLean as a judge was so funny to me, because even in court the teenager's fates are in HIS hands lol! I'd really appreciate the reviews because I would like to know if this story is good or not XD I have six chapters written so far and I do plan finishing this story. Please, please review and thank you thank you for reading! :D So happy!


	3. His Side of the Story

**Chapter Three: His Side of the Story **

Shock was still inside me as Bridgette, Geoff and I waited out in the lobby of the courtroom for Duncan to get his handcuffs off and change into his regular clothes. "How long was Duncan in jail for before his trial?" I asked.

"A few weeks," Geoff answered. "But he's been to juvie a lot when he was a minor, but since he's nineteen he went to jail."

After he said that, Duncan walked out and I found myself holding my breath. He wore a black T-shirt with an angry skull on the front, with a gray long sleeved shirt underneath, dark blue baggy jeans, and black converses. I'll admit he looks a thousand times better than he did in an orange jail jumpsuit. He saw me staring and playfully raised a brow, "See something you like?"

That's all he needed to say for me to snap back to reality and breathe again. "You wish," I replied stubbornly.

Standing behind Duncan was a huge black guy that looked a little older than us, that was dressed like a cop and had a hand on Duncan's shoulder to make sure he wouldn't dash off anywhere. "Hey guys. I'm DJ," he greeted happily. **(Author Note: **Squee I love DJ! He's such an awesome cartoon! ;D **)**

DJ took out a black anklet that looked really heavy and then snapped it around Duncan's left ankle.

"What is that?" Bridgette asked.

"I have to put this on him, so if Duncan tries to leave this town it will go off and beep so we'll find him. I'm sorry to say man, but we'll have no choice but to arrest you if you break your probation. And I'm also sorry to say that no matter what you do you absolutely positively **cannot **take this off, even if you wanted too."

"It's okay man," Duncan replied. He turned to me, "Ready to go Princess?"

I sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be."

He smiled. "That's the spirit."

_10:01 A.M. Starbucks, across the courthouse_

What I really needed to do was sit down and have a long talk with Duncan. He needed to tell me all the details of what he's accused for, everything right down to what's happening now. And what was happening now? He and I were sat down to coffee (Bridgette and Geoff were _so _nice they left me alone with this potential murderer) and Duncan just stared at me.

"What is it?" I asked him.

He shook his head lightly. "I'm just trying to decide what the hell is wrong with you."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm just trying to figure out why an uptight girl like you would try and help me."

"Uptight?"

"Yeah sweetheart, uptight."

"I am not uptight!"

Duncan laughed. "You are so uptight. But that's what I don't understand, why did you agree to be my lawyer? Why did you take my side?"

"I don't know," I replied softly. "I really don't know."

"I think you're doing it because you like me."

"Ha! I just met you and I already can't stand you!"

He winked. "Well you're stuck with me babe." Duncan was seriously cocky.

"Can you just tell me what happened and actually be serious? I need to know."

"You sure you want to hear it?"

"I'm your lawyer now; I have no choice but to hear it."

Duncan laughed and cleared his throat. "It all started three weeks ago. I was trying to get into this street gang, and to do so I had to do an 'initiation' which was stealing some random guy's car. Of course I refused to steal a car, because I'm an adult now and I didn't want to risk going to prison. My refusal pissed off the leader of the gang."

"How noble of you," I replied dryly with sarcasm.

"Anyway, so the leader of the gang is named Alejandro. One night I was walking down an alley as a shortcut to get to a new club in town, and Alejandro and his gang followed me and stalked me. So with nowhere to run Alejandro and his gang stole a car that was parked in the alleyway. But fate would have it that as they did the owner of the car came out. So the owner of the car grabbed his gun and started shooting wildly at us."

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Duncan smiled. "Look who's concerned."

I growled. "Just get on with it."

"So while the owner was going all wild on us with his gun, I was able to snag one of Al's gang member's gun so I could use it as protection against the crazy car owner _and _Alejandro and his gang. It was Alejandro who shot his gun at the car owner. It was Alejandro who killed him. But before I fled I was knocked out by getting hit on the head. When I woke up cops were there, I was being asked questions and there was a dead body surrounded by a pool of blood only a few feet away from me."

"And you were put in jail because they thought you committed the murder, and you've been there up until the trial?" I surmised.

Duncan nodded yes. "And that Asian chick Harold was defending was the car owner's girlfriend. She's suing me. So if we… or you rather… can prove that I didn't kill her boyfriend and that I'm innocent I don't have to go to prison for twenty something years."

"That long?" I asked quietly.

"Yep," he answered solemnly. "I've already been to juvie and back probably thirty something times. Each time I got bailed out by my parents. But then I was cut off from them, from my family, from basically everyone but Geoff. Four years I've been on my own with no one looking out for me but myself. So when I finally decide to reconnect with society… this kind of crap happens." His voice was hushed as well. "But now I've got you princess."

"Don't call me that," I told him without anger in my voice. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. I haven't driven a car in awhile it'd be good to get behind the wheel again," he grinned.

I laughed. "You're not driving my car. Period."

~X~X~X~

Duncan was pretty peeved he couldn't drive, but that's just too bad. I believe he was in this mess because of a car in the first place. So as I drove back to my house he sat in the passenger's seat and snooped in the glove compartment for whatever I had. "All you have in here are stupid books!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's because I like to read," I replied. He was starting to annoy me.

"That's basically all you do, isn't it? Study and read, study and read. I bet you never go out and have fun, do you?"

It was a good thing Bridgette or Gwen weren't with us. "What's it to you?" I asked defensively. "I have goals you know. I want to be a successful lawyer and maybe governor one day. And I'm not going to do that by going out and partying. So yeah, I do study a lot."

He rolled his eyes. "Stick in the mud."

A devious smile went across my face. "You better be nice, it'll be because of me you don't end up in prison."

"Sweetheart, I'm not _nice_."

"So what, you're just a bad boy all the time?"

"I am a bad boy. Except, I prefer delinquent."

"And you're actually proud of that title?"

"Better than stick in the mud." I punched his arm but he just laughed because of how much it didn't hurt. Wow, he was really in shape. I'll have to punch harder next time. "Oh what do we have here?" Duncan asked. He pulled out my hidden CD.

"It's not what you think!" I cried. Because in his hands Duncan held up my secret Cheetah Girls CD. **(A/N LOL Cheetah Girls, lmao** **)**

He roared with laughter. "Seriously Princess?"

I found myself blushing bright red. "That… uh… belongs to Gwen." It's a good thing Duncan never met Gwen otherwise he'd know I just told a big fat lie.

"Sure it does princess," he chuckled, sarcasm in his voice. I gripped the wheel tighter. Jeez I can't stand him. We arrived at my house ten minutes later, and I fiddled through my purse trying to find my keys while he leaned against my wall watching me with an amused look. "Don't you have a spare key?"

"Ha! I'm not getting it in front of you," I replied. That's when I stopped. Am I really going to let a delinquent inside my home? He's probably going to steal something. But the whole reason for me to come here with him was because we needed to study in my room, and go over the case at hand since my room has all the law books I need. Oh my god. Am I really going to let him in my room?

"Anytime now, princess," he said. Ironically when he said that I found my keys and unlocking the house we stepped through. Duncan whistled impressed. "Nice place."

"Don't touch anything," I snapped. "And thanks. Bridgette's dad owns this house and Bridgette and my other friend Gwen are my roommates. I don't think Gwen is here right now, she's probably at work." I forgot to mention Gwen had a job as a waitress Cheesecake Factory (she always complains that her manager is cheap).

"So it's just you and me huh?" he asked. Wow, this guy is SUCH a perv!

"Possibly," I answered stubbornly. Then it occurred to me I was still dressed up in my fancy suit, and the heels I was wearing were staring to hurt. "I need to go change. Can you please stay down here and stay out of my stuff until I return?"

He plopped on the couch and crossed his legs, putting his arms up behind his head. "No problem princess," he grinned.

"Don't call me that!" I exclaimed. Then I rushed upstairs and slammed my bathroom door, locking it. Quickly I changed into green halter top and white shorts, taking off my heels to go barefoot. Then I realized I was probably showing too much skin considering I had a delinquent pervert in my living room. So with a sigh I changed into a regular shaped green tank top, and my old faded out blue jeans. There. Take that Duncan!

When I went downstairs I didn't see him on my couch. Oh my god! He totally took something and ditched! That ogre! "Duncan!" I screamed. "Where are you?" I heard him laugh up the stairs.

Running up there full speed I saw him sitting on my bed looking at the shelves and shelves of law books I had. He laughed, "Damn, you really do spend all your time studying and reading."

"Shut up."

**Author Note: **Please review and thank you for reading!


	4. Gathering Evidence and Letting Loose

**Chapter Four: Gathering Evidence and Letting Loose **

It has been three days. THREE DAYS. And I am already at a complete loss with how I'm ever going to win this case. I have probably gotten five or six hours of sleep in the past three days, the rest of my time I'm reading all my law books with Duncan over at my house annoying me. I could tell he really _was_ trying to help me, but he would always call me princess, which didn't help. Duncan lived with Geoff if I didn't mention this, and Geoff lived a few blocks away. So even when I was alone, it still felt Duncan was somehow still _here_. That really bothered me.

It was currently 6:09 A.M. and I had just finished reading 234 pages of past law cases that had gone in the superior court. The reason you look up previous cases is because you're looking for cases that were similar to yours, then try and evaluate the mistakes and strategies those clients took.

So far there were two cases similar to Duncan's. One man in the 1970's was accused of murder, and like Duncan had no evidence to prove himself not guilty. He had a witness, but the judge still found favor for the plaintiff. Then in 1992 a woman was accused of stealing a vehicle then hit and run with that vehicle. She claimed she was framed, but without evidence and the car planted in her house at the crime scene was found guilty.

It was clear what the pattern was. We needed evidence. Otherwise, the vain Chris McLean will find us guilty, Duncan will go to jail, and I will have lost my very first court case. Not going to happen.

Right now what I really needed was coffee. I found the strength in my legs to drag myself down the stairs, into the kitchen, and to the coffee pot. There Gwen was drinking a cup herself. "Hey Courtney," she greeted in a surprisingly cheerful mood.

"Hi," I mumbled.

"You don't look to good Courtney. You feeling okay?"

"Tired. Stressed. Tired."

"You seriously need to get some sleep. You're not helping anybody if you're sleep depraved," Gwen told me.

"I can't sleep," I objected. "There's too much to do."

She sighed. "Lack of sleep is really unhealthy you know."

"Nuh." I was too tired to reply with a wittier response. Suddenly Gwen stuck her cup of coffee in front of my face. "That's yours."

"You need it more than I do. And don't you dare tell me otherwise."

I smiled gratefully and took the coffee mug. "Thanks Gwen."

She returned a smile. "You're welcome."

I took a sip of coffee and immediately spit it out! "This is black! There's no sugar or cream!" I exclaimed.

Gwen chuckled. "Yeah sorry about that, I forgot to tell you I like my coffee black."

"Figures, you're such a goth," I smiled jokingly.

"Labels are for soups, not people," she replied. Gwen smiled again, then left the kitchen and back up to her room. I took a quick and painful gulp of coffee. Black coffee was probably the best way to keep me awake.

~X~X~X~

After two (very painful) cups of black coffee I got dressed into a dark blue tank top and my same black jeans I wore a when I went to dinner with Bridgette and Geoff. Then slinging my hair into a messy pony tail, I put on my shoes and went out the door, carrying two very heavy law text books in my hands.

Where was I going? The ogre's house. I knocked on his door and then realized it was probably 7:00 in the morning. Oh well. I knocked three more times before a very groggy and tired Geoff answered the door. "Morning sunshine," I greeted sarcastically.

"Uh, nuh… Duncan… is in his room… come on," Geoff answered tiredly, a yawn between practically every word he said.

"Is he asleep?"

"Probably."

"Can you wake him up?"

"Dudette, I'm going back to bed," Geoff yawned. "When it's this early you're on your own." He went back to his bedroom and shut the door. Leaving me alone in his house. I sighed. I'm never coming back here this early.

Slowly I walked down the hall and I immediately knew which room was Duncan's because of the door painted black with a sign in big red letters **KEEP OUT**. I knocked on the door. "Duncan," I called quietly. "Duncan? Are you awake? It's Courtney."

A couple long seconds passed and then he answered his bedroom door. "Hey Princess what are you doing here so early? Surely you could've waited a few more hours to see my face," he greeted.

I sighed. Even at 7:06 in the morning he was such an ogre. "I thought we could get an early start and I brought some law books over. Finally I know what we need to do."

"Make out?"

"Duncan! Be serious! This is your future we're gambling with!"

He smirked. "It amazes me how much you care about me."

It was too early to argue with him. "I don't want you going to prison for twenty years because I failed you."

"That's the amazing part. You barely know me. You barely know what my past was like, all the things I've done, anything really. And yet here you are at my door early in the morning bound and determined to prove me innocent. Why? Why are you going through all this trouble for me? Why do you believe I deserve it?"

I just stared into his teal eyes, not knowing how to reply to him. But it then occurred to me that Duncan was a nineteen year old boy who had a tough life growing up. I'd bet his parents didn't give him the time of day, and he found that stealing and being bad was the only way to get their attention. Then at fifteen he was cut off from his parents, cut off from his family, cut off from the world, which only hardened him as a delinquent even more.

So that probably made him think he wasn't good enough for anyone, and no one was good for him. He disregarded what was right and what was wrong, then finally after four long years found he was better off to join back up with society. And just as he started to turn his life around he gets caught up in a conspiracy and now faces the fear of going to prison for twenty years. Now Duncan can't figure out why anyone would want to put forth so much effort in helping a no good criminal like him.

So really that's it. He can't understand why anyone is being nice to him; he can't understand why he deserves it. And as soon as I saw this I realized he may not be as big as an ogre as he acts. He's still an ogre, just not as bad as I thought.

Then I realized he was waiting for an answer. "I don't know Duncan," I whispered. "All I know is that I can't watch an innocent man go to prison for a crime he didn't commit. It doesn't matter what you did in your past. It's what's happening now that matters. So can I come in?"

He nodded and stepped aside, letting me walk into his room. His walls were surprisingly white (I expected them to be black like Gwen's) and all along the walls were posters of hard rock and punk bands. He had a normal bed with a black comforter on top, a desk with a laptop on top, and an old looking dresser that was stuffed with wrinkled jeans and t-shirts.

I sat down on his bed (the office chair looked lumpy and uncomfortable) and he grinned. "Comfy bed, isn't it?"

"Wherever you're getting at you can put the pervert thoughts away. I spent some time reviewing past superior court cases and it's clear we're not winning this case without evidence."

Duncan took a seat on the office chair putting his feet up on the desk. "We don't have evidence. Everything happened a few weeks ago."

"I know," I answered. "But if we can prove that Alejandro tried to get you into his gang, or even that Alejandro had malicious intentions to hurt or kill you, we'll be in really good shape."

"And why is that?"

"Motive. If Alejandro wanted to kill you, hurt you, didn't like you, that's motive for him to frame you. That's all the court needs to find him as a potential suspect. What would be even better is if we could catch him in the act of robbing something, hurting someone, or anything that would tie into him framing you."

Duncan just listened. "Getting involved with Alejandro's gang is dangerous waters. He's like a modern day Al Capone. If he finds out we're trying to set him up, he'll kill us. He nearly killed me."

"I know," I sighed. "So I'm going to read some law books and study up more, okay?"

"Go ahead princess," he answered.

It was probably twenty minutes before the exhaustion of staying up for the staggered sixty-six hours really impounded on me. And just like that I felt my head on Duncan's soft bed, and reality drifting off…

When I opened my eyes I made out the blurry images of the posters on his wall. Next thing I knew I felt hot breath on my neck and Duncan's voice saying in a gentle whisper, "Wake up." Then I felt him gently tap my shoulder, and I opened my eyes fully to see his calm face. He smiled. "Hey sleeping beauty."

"Duncan…" I replied sleepily. "Am I still at your house?"

"Yep. Right on my bed." He winked.

Immediately I started blushing. "I'm sorry… I must have drifted off and I didn't even realize-,"

His soft laughter cut me off. "It's okay," he assured me. "You barely got any sleep, I could tell by the dark circles that were forming under your eyes. So you fell asleep big deal. You're awake now, are you hungry?"

"Yeah. Now that I think about I haven't had anything except two cups of coffee," I answered, sitting up on his bed. To my surprise Duncan handed me a plate of chicken enchiladas. "Wow. Did you cook this?"

"Yeah. Believe it or not I'm useful in the kitchen. So eat up, because we're going out tonight."

It took me a minute to answer him because I stuffed my mouth with a huge bite of enchilada. Wow he's a good cook. "This is delicious. Thank you!"

"Jeez princess it was no big deal."

"I know, but still that was really nice." I remembered when he said he wasn't nice a few days ago when I had first met him. "You're a nice guy," I smiled. "Whether you want to be or not."

"Whatever," he scoffed. "Don't go saying that you'll ruin my rep." He handed me a glass of cold water right when I started to feel thirsty. Creepy, but sweet.

"So where are we going tonight?" I asked. "Are you going to show me where Alejandro and his gang are?"

"Something like that."

"Look. It's cool of you to want to take me out, but I really want to focus on our case. So unless where we're going has something to do with this case I'd rather pass."

Duncan rolled his eyes. "You need to learn how to let loose."

"Yeah, yeah. I've already heard all that from Bridgette and Gwen, don't worry," I grumbled. "Maybe you're right, maybe I am a stick in the mud."

"So prove me wrong. Let me take you out tonight."

"You still haven't told where you want to go."

"I want to go to the movies, okay? But it just so happens that Alejandro and his gang like to hang out there. So we can go for fun and work, okay?"

"Okay," I smiled. "But I'm not seeing any horror movies."

"Fine. I'm not seeing any Chick Flicks."

We both smiled at each other. And I was starting to realize Duncan Adams wasn't as bad as he lead me to believe.

**Author Note: **I really got into this chapter because I felt as if in the short time Duncan and Courtney knew each other they quickly developed a strong bond (even though they both don't realize it yet). In my opinion, their relationship in the show is really rocky how they're off and on with the love and hate. So I really wanted to develop a relationship between the two, one that can't easily be shaken off. I promise the next chapter will be more action packed, random and funny. Thank you for reading! Please review!


	5. Popcorn and In Cahoots

**Chapter Five: Popcorn and In Cahoots**

It turned out I was asleep from 8:00 in the morning all the way till 4:00 in the afternoon. So after I finished the enchiladas I told Duncan to meet me at my house at 7:00 because I still had a few things to do.

"So is this a date?" he asked me as I walked out his front door.

"Nope," I answered, fighting back a smile.

"Why? It's going to be me, you, and the movies? How is that not a date?"

"Because I'm inviting Bridgette and Gwen and you're inviting Geoff."

He raised a brow stubbornly. "Now why would I do that and risk a night alone with you?"

"Because if it's just the two of us Alejandro would spot us better and be more suspicious. If you and I are with a big crowd of people we'll blend in more, trust me."

Duncan smirked. "I'm still calling it a date."

"Call it whatever you want perv," I retorted. Then I left his house and walked down a couple blocks, entering my house.

"Hey there Courtney. How are _you_?" Bridgette asked with a sly tone at the end of her voice. "Having _fun _with _Duncan_?"

"What are you trying to imply?" I asked her, putting my hands on my hips.

"She's trying to imply that you got the hots for Duncan," Gwen grinned.

"What? No! No I absolutely, positively do **not **have the 'hots' for Duncan!" I retorted defensively. "Now can you two get off my case I'm going to the movies."

"With who?" Bridgette asked.

"Duncan."

"HA!"

"Damn it! It's not what you think! We're going to the movies to try and catch a gang member!"

Gwen laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure you'll find a gang member inside the popcorn machine." Bridgette and Gwen laughed harder.

"Stop it," I growled.

"Hey, I'm just glad you're going out for once. And you're doing it with a boy!" Bridgette squealed.

"He's not a boy!" I spat without thinking.

"Then what is he? A marshmallow?" Gwen replied sarcastically.

"No! He is a boy!"

"So you are going to the movies on your own with a boy?" Bridgette asked.

"Yes," I sighed in defeat.

Bridgette looked at me, then Gwen, back to me, back to Gwen and then squealed at the top of her lungs, "COURTNEY'S GOT A DATE!"

"IT IS NOT A DATE!" I shouted back.

Gwen laughed in amusement, "And why not?"

"Because you guys are coming with me," I grinned deviously. "And Duncan in bringing Geoff. We're all going to the movies _together_. So HA!" Before Gwen or Bridgette had time to open their mouths and reject I ran up the stairs, in my room, and slammed the door. **Alone**. I was finally alone.

I was torn between changing my clothes, and keeping on the ones I was wearing which were perfectly fine. If I changed into something nicer Gwen and Bridgette would tease me, and Duncan would probably notice, say something perverted, and then Gwen and Bridgette would snicker behind my back. So no! I will not change my clothes! Take that Gwen, Bridgette and Duncan! Ha! **(A/N lol Courtney XD) **

7:00 rolled around and I heard a knock on my front door. I casually but quickly walked down the stairs and opened it to see Duncan with a big grin on his face. "Where's Geoff?" I asked.

"What, no hello?"

"Hello. Where's Geoff?"

He rolled his eyes. "In the car. How about Bridgette and Gwen?"

"They're here I'll get them. You can stay right there or come in and wait, but whatever you do don't _touch _anything," I answered.

"Stingy," he muttered under his breath.

I ignored him and went upstairs to Gwen and Bridgette's rooms. They weren't there. Puzzled, I checked all the rooms upstairs but didn't find them. "Gwen? Bridge?" I called through the house. Bounding down the stairs I checked the kitchen. Then taped to the back door was a note written in Bridgette's writing:

_Court, _

_Gwen and I took the car early and we'll meet you at the movie theater. Geoff said he and Duncan would give you a ride. Love ya!_

_-Bridge _

In anger I clutched the paper and threw it in the trashcan! Those two left me alone here on purpose, so I'd ride in the car with Duncan! They just think they're so devious and they are doing me so many favors. With a sigh I returned to the front door where Duncan hadn't moved an inch. "I guess I'm riding with you. I thought we were going to take separate cars but Bridge and Gwen ditched early when I was getting ready."

Duncan smirked. "I don't mind."

"Yeah, I know _you _don't." He laughed and we walked to his car.

~X~X~X~

Geoff drove (thank god) and in ten minutes flat we were at the theater. Gwen and Bridgette were waiting for us in the lobby, and I shot them unappreciative glares.

"So what did you dudes want to see?" Geoff asked.

"How about that new documentary movie about the environmental structure?" Gwen suggested.

"BORING!" Duncan and Geoff shouted rudely at the same time.

"How about that new Disney movie Toy- oh my god!" I exclaimed. "Duncan, look! It's Chris and Chef!" I shrieked.

Immediately everyone's head snapped towards where I pointed, and sure enough standing across the theater lobby was Chris and Chef. The two were arguing over something, and for one second there was a still awkward silence. Finally Bridgette broke the silence and asked, "Why do you think they're still together even outside of court?"

We all shivered in repulsion and fear. We don't _know _what goes on between Chef and Chris, but I think it's safe to say we don't want to know. **(A/N Even in the show Chris and Chef are always together. So go figure XD.) **

"So… I'm going to go get some popcorn… you guys can go buy the movie tickets," Duncan stammered, still recovering.

"I'll come with you," I said. We walked over to the food section of the theater and the rest of them went to go buy tickets as Duncan had said. "That was scary," I laughed slightly.

He shook his head. "Disturbing."

We went up to the counter to see a teenage blond girl that looked a little younger than us to be working the popcorn machine. She put her head up and saw us and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! I'm Lindsay! Hi! I'll help you guys in one sec I'm trying to figure out how to turn these kernels into popcorn. It's like, really confusing."

Duncan and I exchanged the same look- is this girl for real? "Lindsay! For the last time, you put the kernels in the popcorn machine and press 'go' then wait for them to pop! How many times do I have to show you this?" a big girl with huge hoop earrings in her ears demanded. This girl's name tag read Leshawna, and she walked over and made the popcorn for Lindsay.

"Oh I get it! The kernels pop, which is why they call it popcorn! That is so cool!" Lindsay squealed. She turned back to Duncan and I. "So, um, it will be a few minutes until these kernels turn into popcorn."

"Amazing! I thought popcorn was magic," Duncan replied sarcastically.

"Me too!" Lindsay exclaimed. Apparently she didn't understand sarcasm either.

I couldn't help but giggle as Duncan and I waited for our popcorn and sat down at a nearby table. We were both quiet, and right as I was about to say something I noticed the look of shock on his face. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"He's here… Alejandro and his gang… they're here," Duncan stammered quietly. He pointed across the lobby.

"That's great! I thought he was supposed to be."

"Princess, I was lying to you when I said he hung out here."

"Oh." That's when I got a good look at Alejandro. He was tall with dark tan skin, dark brown hair that went up to his shoulders, wore a white t-shirt underneath a red jacket and blue jeans. He looked like a regular guy. "You're trying to tell me that this guy almost killed you?" I asked with disbelief.

Duncan flashed me a glare. "He's more intimidating than you think. And he and his gang have guns hidden with them somewhere."

"Who's that girl with him?" I asked. That's when both of our jaws dropped. The girl that had her arm around Alejandro's was _Heather?_

"Oh my god. She's totally hugging and squeezing the guy that killed her boyfriend!" Duncan exclaimed. "Does she not realize he's the murderer?"

"Don't you see what's going on? They're in cahoots! Alejandro kills Heather's boyfriend and she sues you! What's she suing you for? 25,000 dollars?"

"She's suing me for 25,000 for emotional trauma and damage to her car that her and her boyfriend shared. Not only that I've got twenty years in the big house if I'm found guilty."

"Then they're so working together. I bet she splits the cash with Alejandro. Think about it, you have a reputation for always getting in trouble, Alejandro got mad at you because you wouldn't steal a car to join his gang, and it all fits together!"

His eyes grew wide. "You're right. But can we prove it?"

"Not without some snooping."

**Author Note: **Ah cliffhangers. Fun when you make them, not when you read them. But isn't that part of the fun of fanfiction? Anyway… sorry if this story lacked action but hopefully it had you laughing. Next chapter is more kick butt action, I promise. That's like my MO, kick butt action and comedy. So thank you for reading, and please review!


	6. Danger

**Chapter Six: Danger**

We decided to see the movie Killers. Halfway through the movie I had to get up and use the bathroom, so I left the movie and headed towards the ladies' bathroom. For one second my eyes drifted to outside, where I looked at the bright shining moon through the glass of the theater doors.

Oomph!

"I'm sorry!" I exclaimed, realizing I had bumped into someone. Luckily whoever it was I bumped into didn't fall down, but I did make him spill a little of his popcorn on the floor. "I'm sorry, that was very clumsy of me," I apologized. Then I saw who it was I bumped into. Alejandro.

He stood up to his full height (wow he's tall) and just gave me a warm smile. "It's alright senorita." Okay, so he knows Spanish. He smile got bigger, "What movie did you see?"

For one millisecond I froze. I have to lie to him. He can't know where I am, especially since I'm with Duncan, the guy he tried to _kill_. "Toy Story 3," I lied. "The movie is still going on I was just on my way-,"

"Say no more," he interrupted in a smooth voice. "Very nice meeting you."

"Same," I smiled. Then I walked past him casually for a few seconds, turned around to see if he was looking (he wasn't) so I dashed to the girl's bathroom! When I reached a stall I slammed it shut and locked it, then found I was panting and my heartbeat was racing! He was so suave, seemed so sweet, and was very polite. But I could feel the poison in his words, he's definitely bad news.

I waited thirteen minutes before walking out of the stall and out of the girl's bathroom. As soon as I opened the door I heard an abrupt but smooth, "Hey sweetheart."

"Eeep!" I shrieked, as I jumped a little. "Duncan! Don't scare me like that!"

He laughed. "All I did was say hi jumpy McChicken." **(A/N Remember when Duncan called her that in the Sucky Outdoors episode of TDI? Yeah :D)**

"You're such an ogre!" I yelled.

"For saying hi?"

"For waiting for me right outside the girl's bathroom. What are you, a stalker?"

"Hey you were gone for awhile, I thought I'd see if everything was alright."

"So you were worried about me?"

"No."

"Yes. You were worried about me and you went to go see if I was alright. Hmm… sounds like something a _nice _guy would do."

"I'm not nice!"

My smile just got wider. "You're so a nice guy."

Duncan just glared at me and growled a little, deciding not to argue anymore. "Let's just get back to the movie, okay?" he grumbled. He started to walk ahead of me and I had to quicken my pace to catch up to him. "Do you want anymore popcorn?"

"No, I'm okay. So, uh, while I was on my way to the bathroom I bumped into Alejandro…"

As soon as I said that I could immediately feel the fire rage up in Duncan. "And?" he asked me with a tone to his voice, not even turning around to look at me.

"And, uh, he said it was very nice meeting me and he asked me what movie I were seeing. That was all."

"What did you tell him you were seeing?"

"Toy Story 3."

"Was anyone else with him?"

"No."

"Not even Heather?"

"No. What is this, twenty questions?"

Duncan stopped walking and then faced me. "This is serious."

I crossed my arms. "Oh yeah, NOW you treat the situation seriously. Well I don't want to be here at the movies anymore. No more screwing around. I want to find evidence."

"And by that you mean?"

"I want to go to the street alley Alejandro and his gang cornered you on the night of the murder."

"Absolutely not."

"You forget that I'm an adult and I don't need your approval. I can go there whether or not you want to me too."

He raised a brow. "Oh really?"

"Yeah, really. You can't stop me."

Now he raised the corner of his mouth into a smirk. "Is that a challenge?"

"No, it's a fact."

"Oh really? Because I think you just challenged me Princess." Duncan started walking closer to me.

Immediately the glint of his eyes didn't look good. "What are you doing?" I asked, standing my ground.

"Accepting your challenge," he answered. "I'm stopping you." And with that he easily picked me up and slung me over his shoulders, and started walking back to the movie.

"No! Put me down!" I exclaimed as I punched his back. He laughed at my attempts, they were useless he's too strong. "Duncan put me down!"

"You forget I'm an adult now sweetheart, I can do whatever I want without your approval," he grinned. That ogre used my own words against me! Right before we reached the door to the movie he slung me off his shoulder and held me down against the wall. "Still feeling defiant?"

"You're such an ogre!"

"I've been called worse." **(A/N Aha once again from Sucky Outdoors XD) **

"Let me go. Now!" I exclaimed angrily.

"Calm down Princess. I'll let you go if you promise me you'll go back inside and watch the rest of the movie."

I didn't answer.

"Princess?" Duncan asked me.

Still no answer.

"You can ignore me all you want, I'll just keep holding you," he said smoothly. But then he noticed the look in my eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Be-behind you," I answered. Still keeping one hand on my shoulder Duncan turned around and there we saw three guys across the wall from us. The guys looked to be in their mid twenties and had devious grins on their faces.

"They're from Alejandro's gang," Duncan told me in a gruff voice.

One of the guys who was tall smiled. "So you remember us Adams? Well boss sent us over here to take care of you two."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked without fear in my voice. But the truth was, I was terrified. Thank god Duncan was right next to me.

"It means you two aren't showing up for your court case," another chunky guy answered a grin in his voice.

"Killing us in a theater with people here isn't very smart," I stated.

"You don't see anyone around do you? And who said we're going to kill you here? You two have a car crash accident awaiting you."

That was all that guy had to say for something inside of me to snap. These guys wanted to kill me, and I'm not going down without a fight! So with a quick glance at Duncan, I jumped out and gave the chunky guy a back kick to his head!

And so started the fight.

~X~X~X~

Did I mention I'm a black belt in Tai Kwan Do and Karate? Because I am and I have been since I was seventeen. So here Duncan and I were, two against one, fighting Alejandro's gang members.

With a swift kick to the chunky one's head, I ducked down and dodged a punch from the tall one. Immediately Duncan stepped in and his fist crashed into another gang member's face full on! The tall one was able to punch my ribs before I could block, and right after he did that the chunky one held my arms. The tall one was about to sock me in the stomach before Duncan tackled him, giving me the chance to break out of the chunky one's grasp!

Sure I got a few punches and kicks thrown at me, but with every punch I got I gave out three more twice as fast! Duncan may not be flexible but he's certainly fast and strong with every punch and kick he threw out. However after another few punches to my ribs (which doesn't take much force to break them) I felt my energy waning. Duncan couldn't help me he was busy fighting two of the guys- which left me with the tall one.

Really, I only saw one way to take this guy down. So I lunged at him making him think I was going to throw a punch, but then shifted my weight and threw a kick to his kiwis! Yeah, I'm not proud of kicking him there, but I'm not sorry either. And when you're in a fight, you take a guy down or else he'll take you down.

And that was that. As soon as I took the tall one down Duncan had managed to beat up the other two. "Damn Princess. Nothing pulls my chain more than a girl who can kick ass."

"Shut u- uh-uh." I couldn't finish my sentence because my legs gave out and I fell to the floor. Duncan however caught me before I crashed though.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concern flowing through his voice. "Are you hurt?"

"Lightheaded," I answered. "Don't worry. I'm fine. I didn't eat anything for dinner and I'm-,"

"So yes to more popcorn?" he interrupted.

"Yes," I sighed. "But what about what just happened? Those three guys aren't going to report back to Alejandro and we're going to be in even more trouble!"

"Then in that case I think you're right."

"We're in even more trouble?"

"Well, yeah, but we also need to go back to the street alley to get evidence. Alejandro isn't getting away with this."

**Author Note: **Well there you go, chapter six! I'd really like to know how my action scene was. Please review, thank you for reading, next chapter will be up soon! And by soon I mean 1-2 days tops. Thank you!


	7. The Evening Goes On

**Chapter Seven: The Evening Goes On**

The rest of the evening seemed to pass by in a fast blur. Gwen, Geoff and Bridgette got out of the movie, and Duncan and I told them to go home, turn out the lights and lock the doors and windows. Alejandro probably won't know where I live since the address is in Bridgette's dad's name, but you can never be too careful.

Currently Duncan was over at my house waiting for me while I took care of a few bruises I got from my fight. Once again he was snooping through my stuff which was once again annoying. "Jeez Princess you've got a bad taste in music," Duncan mused as he went through my CD collection.

"I could say the same thing about you," I retorted stubbornly.

He snickered as he drummed his fingers through my CD's. However what I didn't expect was for him to come across a CD, scream "AH!" then throw my CD on the floor!

"Be careful with my stuff!" I scolded. Walking over and picking up the CD, I asked in a puzzled voice, "Duncan why did you throw down my Celine Dion CD?"

"Why do you even have a CD of hers?" he threw back in a defensive tone.

"Because she happens to have great vocals. Jeez it's almost like you're scared of her."

There was no reply.

"Oh my god Duncan! Are you scared of her!"

"She's a crazy lady," he growled.

"How exactly?"

"Oh just never mind! But keep that CD away from me, got it?"

"Now you're just being rude."

"Whatever."

"Oh don't be all defensive, everyone is scared of something."

He raised a brow, "So what are you afraid of?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me Princess."

"Well there could be that slight chance that maybe, just maybe, I might possibly be a _little _intimidated by green jello."

It was Duncan's turn to laugh. "Seriously?"

"They're like boogers," I shivered.

"So you're more afraid of something that looks like boogers than actual boogers?"

"Shut up."

"Ah, look who's on the defensive now?"

At that moment I really wanted to sock him in the face. But instead I just turned around and continued to put band aids on the few cuts I had. After patching up my last bruise on my stomach I turned to him and asked, "Are you hurt?"

He scoffed. "Don't make me laugh. I'm fine."

"Jeez there's no reason to act like a tough guy. If you are hurt I'll patch you up."

"Thanks, but no thanks," he replied in a cold manner.

I turned around and was about to yell at him, but then I noticed the left sleeve of his shirt was darker than the other, and there was a _drip drip_ noise. After that all I could say was, "Holy crap you're bleeding!"

"No I'm not."

"Don't lie to me! I see the blood dripping off your shirt! Come here, let me fix it."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No way Princess."

"Why can't you just put away your pride for one minute? Just let me fix your stupid arm."

"Fine," he growled.

Hesitantly he walked over to me and I lifted the blood drenched sleeve of his shirt. My eyes grew wide, "What the hell happened?"

"The chunky one brought a knife," he answered, with a slight grimace of pain in his voice. "No big deal. Better a knife than a gun."

"Duncan, this is a really deep wound. He tore through several layers of flesh. You got lucky. And why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't know you cared."

"I don't!"

"Quit saying that Princess. You're in so much denial."

"Okay, fine, I care. I have no idea why though. So shut up and let me patch up this cut." After saying that I sprayed some medicine on his cut (Duncan grimaced) and then I took some gauze and wrapped a thick layer around it. "There. That should do it." To my surprise, Duncan then took his arms and actually _hugged _me. Mr. Big and Bad actually hugged me. "What are you doing?" was all I managed to get out of my mouth.

He didn't answer. He just hugged me. And for one long, sweet and warm moment I closed my eyes and let him hug me. Then reality hit me- I'm hugging Duncan… and… I'm not sick to my stomach. It actually felt nice.

"Courtney! I made some soup!" I heard Bridgette say as she walked up the stairs to my room. Quickly Duncan and I broke off and right on cue Bridgette opened the door. "Do you want any soup? It's chicken noodle."

"No thanks," I replied casually. "I'm sure Gwen does though."

"Nah, apparently there's a conspiracy going on with the soup canning company not using recycled tin cans and she's not eating soup in protest or whatever," Bridgette answered. "Well let me know if you do." After saying that she then closed my door again.

Then came the awkwardness. I looked at Duncan to see a big huge grin over his face. He didn't need to say what he was smiling about, I already knew. "Don't make me get Celine Dion," I threatened lightly.

His grin disappeared. "Sheesh, talk about playing dirty," he grumbled.

~X~X~X~

**Duncan's POV:**

I remember how fun stakeouts are. Sure they seem boring, where you just sit there waiting for something to happen, but this particular one is _really _fun. Because I got a princess next to me in the driver's seat staking out with me. Courtney was unlike all the other girls I've met. First of all she was a serious challenge. She always acted like she didn't like me (even though she so does) and it's a challenge to break through her uptight barrier. But I like challenges; I always take them on.

"Quit staring at me and pay attention!" Courtney hissed.

"Sorry babe, sometimes you make it hard not to stare," I replied playfully.

"What gets me is I'm not even dressing teasingly and you're still looking at me," she huffed.

That's when I actually did notice her outfit: she wore a purple tank top and black jeans. VERY simple. So why _am _I always checking her out? "Wouldn't kill you to show your stuff more," was all I answered with.

"Pig!"

I smirked. "Princess."

Then there was finally some action. We saw Alejandro and Heather walk out from her apartment door and down the stairs to the street. "I just got a report back from my men, Adams and his lawyer that Vega girl escaped," he told her.

Heather crossed her arms. "Good! Because if they die we won't get the money from the lawsuit!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? We don't need that lawsuit money! I've recently come in contact with… more product. We'll be rich in no time flat baby doll."

Heather didn't seem convinced. "So what if you do kill Adams and Vega? It would be highly suspicious for them to all of a sudden 'die' before the court case, wouldn't it?"

Alejandro started to laugh. "You don't seem to realize how _easy _it will be. Duncan Adams has been to juvie thirty times before he turned eighteen for petty crimes and all kinds of trouble. All we have to do is make it look like Duncan went berserk and kills himself and Vega in a car crash. It will be believable because of his past records."

Heather thought for a few moments. "I guess you're right," she agreed. "But what about Courtney Vega, his lawyer? I heard she has no record of violence or crime. She's clean."

"She's stupid," Alejandro snapped. "Anyone is stupid for thinking they can defend a petty criminal from murder. She's the only one who believes him anyway."

"Come on, let's go to that new club in town," Heather smiled, wrapping an arm around his. They both smiled and left.

**Courtney's POV: **

I was torn between two emotions: anger, and fear.

Anger, because of everything those two just said. They're trying to kill us!

Fear, because I was sitting next to a bomb… Duncan. His nostrils were flared angrily, both hands clenched up in fists, and I could feel the rage he was trying so hard to contain. I swear he was going to explode any second now. "Duncan…" I whispered softly, afraid he was going to jump out abruptly and do something stupid.

He didn't answer me. I tried to determine where he was looking but it seemed as if his teal eyes were lost in an oblivion of anger. Finally after the longest few minutes of my life he said in a hushed voice, "I'm sorry Courtney."

Whoa. He said my name. Not princess, babe, sweetheart or anything, my actual _name_. "Don't be," I whispered back.

"No! Don't you get it? They're trying to kill you because of me! Because of my stupid actions!"

"You'd be in jail now if it weren't for me."

He sighed. "Maybe that's where I need to be. Maybe that's the place I won't do anyone any more harm."

"Stop it!" I exclaimed. "You're not doing to jail Duncan Adams! And we're not going to die!"

"Why are you defending me?"

"I don't know!"

"You do know! Tell me!"

"You're innocent!" I spat. "Because you're innocent! You didn't commit this murder! I don't give a shit about all your past crimes, all your past mistakes, anything that you've done from before! We're here now, and you're innocent. I'm not letting you go to prison. I don't care if no one else believes you! I believe you. And I'll fight this with all my strength. I'll fight for what's right." **(A/N This is supposed to be serious, I know, but lol I just rhymed XD) **

Duncan didn't say anything. He just looked at me with this kind of shock. It was hard to determine how he was feeling because his eyes were just glassy with either anger or more shock. For a long time we both sat in the car in silence, until finally he opened the door and walked out into the street.

"Hey!" I called, coming after him. We were standing right at the crime scene where all hell had broken loose.

"Princess…" he said in a low voice.

"Yes?"

With a sigh he turned to face me, grabbing my hand in his and bringing it back to his face. "If you're going to fight with everything you've got, you deserve to know the truth. What really happened the night of the murder."

**Author Note: **Oh I know, the cliffhanger I've got is really suspenseful… I hope. Don't worry, you won't be left hanging _too _long. Lol I feel diabolical! But seriously, it won't be too long. Please review, thank you for reading, and now I'm going to go munch on pretzels. *nom* :D


	8. Truth and Breaking In

**Chapter Eight: Truth and Breaking In**

"What do you mean what really happened?" I asked Duncan. My hands were still between his, and he kept his fingers right at his face. "Do you mean you lied?" I whispered.

"Yes and no," he answered. "It means I didn't tell you the whole truth."

"Oh my god Duncan if you tell me you really did shoot that gun-,"

"No," Duncan interrupted. "Aren't you wondering why they want me dead? Us dead?"

I pondered for a moment. "It does seem weird considering they were going to get a profit off suing you," I said. "And what did Alejandro mean when he said he got 'more product' earlier?"

"That's what I'm going to explain," Duncan slightly growled. "So will you please shut up for a few minutes?"

"Yes," I mumbled.

Duncan took a deep breath and began his story: **(A/N Think of this as more of a flashback, which is why it's not in quotations) **

_I lied to you when I told you I was trying to get into Alejandro's gang and stealing a car was an initiation. The truth is I had been in his gang a good three weeks prior to the murder. I wanted out of his gang because I was trying to turn my life around, and because I'm nineteen and I will go to prison if I get in some deep trouble. _

_So, me wanting to leave was the thing that pissed Alejandro off. Once I got out I figured everything was okay because none of his gang members bothered me, and as long as I didn't bother them I figured it all be in the past. For awhile everything really was going good. _

_But that's when I realized Alejandro was never going to let me be in peace. Because during my time in his gang I had witnessed him going into trade of cocaine. And for just knowing that he was a drug dealer Alejandro tried to kill me. After I left the gang he gave me two weeks of peace so I'd leave my guard down. _

_Then when I was on my way to this new club I took a shortcut in an alleyway, where Al and his gang cornered me, trapped me, and hi-jacked a car. Then the car owner comes out with a gun, there's all this yelling, the car owner starts shooting wildly and…_

Duncan broke off his story. He couldn't finish it.

"It's okay," I told him. "It's okay. Really. Now we know that Al is trying to kill us because you know his drug deal." I smiled to reassure him everything would be alright. "But now I'm going to suggest we do something very dangerous."

"Like what?"

"We break in Heather's house and snoop. Think we should?"

Duncan smiled. "I'm all for danger babe."

"Don't call me babe." We walked up to Heather's door and I jiggled the handle. Of course it was locked. "Maybe she keeps a spare key somewhere," I said thoughtfully.

With a roaring laugh, Duncan took out his pocket knife and stuck the sharp end in the key hole of the door, jiggled it then the door swung open. "It's like you forget who you're teamed with," he grinned.

"Shush," was all I could reply with. Then gently opening the door Duncan and I entered in Heather's house. She had a really nice place, with one black leather couch and two loveseats on the opposite side, nice lavender colored rug, mahogany coffee table and matching TV stand, with a 40' HD flat screen TV right on top. "Whoa. And I thought _I _had nice things," I said in awe.

"Damn, I should've been robbing this place all along," Duncan said in a voice just as awestruck.

My trance was cut short when I realized I had a job to do. "Back to work," I said. The first place I started looking in was Heather's bedroom, which was to nice to describe. I really envy this girl. Going through papers lying around, to snooping in desk drawers, to closets, to even under the bed I still hadn't found anything. I was even careful to put everything back the way she had it so she never suspects we were in here. Then I realized something; where the hell is Duncan?

I walked out of her bedroom and back into the living room to see that ogre sitting down on one of her loveseats, feet up on the coffee table, eating ravioli. "Sup," he greeted casually.

"Duncan!" I screeched. "Just what the hell are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? Eating pasta, kicking back, pretending I had a place this nice."

"You idiot! Heather will know we're in here now because you raided her fridge!"

He shrugged. "She tries to kill me, I eat her pasta." **(A/N LMAO!)**

"Put the ravioli down."

"Is that what this is? Mhm ravioli sounds so much tastier than pasta."

"Duncan!"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Put the ravioli down!"

"I like it when you tell me what to do."

"Then put it down!"

"That doesn't mean I like taking orders."

Something inside me snapped. Twenty minutes earlier I could've sworn I liked Duncan, but when he teases me like this, when he acts like this it makes me what to hit him where it hurts! It was like Duncan could read my thoughts, because as I was preparing to kick him he caught my leg with his free hand, jerked me towards him, and I fell on the loveseat right next to him! Before I had time to react, he shoved a spoonful of ravioli in my mouth. Then instead of shouting, "Get away from me!" I just said, "Mhm…"

"Yeah," he grinned, knowing he won this fight. "That ravioli is good, isn't it?"

"Yes," I mumbled. Crap this really was some good pasta. The pasta was so good that I was distracted from the fact that I was sitting next to Duncan with my feet over him, on a loveseat couch. That didn't register until I swallowed.

"I'm surprised you're letting me be this close," Duncan smirked.

"It's for the ravioli," I mumbled stubbornly.

"_Right_."

"Can I have another bite?"

"If I can have something from you."

"PERV!"

"I haven't even told you what it is yet!"

"It's perverted, I'm smart enough to know that."

"You are."

"Ugh! Give me another bite!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"My ravioli!" In rage I grabbed the spoon from Duncan, which he grabbed back! We fought over the spoon until it accidentally got flung against the wall! "Look what you did!" he exclaimed. **(A/N LOL I love making them immature XD) **

"Wait. Did you hear that? When the spoon hit the wall it sounded hollow."

"Screw that I'm going to get myself a fork."

"Focus!" I got up and walked over the wall, knocking on it. It was definitely hollow. Scanning the wall, I then saw a tiny slit in the wall, as if it were a handle. Putting my finger in the slit, I pulled it toward me, finding that a part of the wall opened just like a door! "Holy crap! We might find evidence in here!" I exclaimed happily.

Now Duncan's attention was with me. "It seems dark in there, here use this," he said, handing me a cigarette lighter.

I took it. "You smoke?"

"Not the issue here Princess."

"Whatever." I looked at the lighter in my hand and tried to figure out how to light it. I've never used one before, okay? With an annoyed sigh and an eye roll Duncan took back the lighter, lit it, and gave it back. "Thanks," I said. Sticking the lighter in the wall we saw bags and bags of white powder. "What is this?" I asked.

"That's coke."

"I'm not an idiot, I know what coke looks like."

"Princess, you are an idiot, because coke is also short for _cocaine_."

"Ohhhh." I put my head down to hide my blush. "So, uh, now we know where they hide their stash. I'll take a picture of this as evidence on my phone." With one quick flash I took a picture of the bags of cocaine inside the wall.

"So is this enough evidence to prove I'm innocent?"

"Well… yes and no. Come on, we should get out of here, they'll probably be back soon." I closed the wall and picked the spoon up from the floor, tossing it into the sink in the kitchen. "What this does prove is further motive from Heather and Alejandro wanting to set you up and all that." By this time Duncan had finished off the ravioli with his hands. "Man, I wanted another bite," I grumbled.

He opened up his mouth with ravioli still in it. "You can still have one."

"EW!"

He chuckled.

Then we heard voices coming closer and closer. Alejandro and Heather were coming back! "We have to hide!" I shrieked, turning off the lights.

"No time! We've got to get out the back door!" he retorted.

"This is an apartment there is no back door!"

"There's got to be something!" Duncan ran and took my wrist, leading me down a hall and randomly going into a bathroom. He opened the window of the bathroom, and sure enough it lead to the side of the apartment buildings. "We'll go out this way," he whispered, opening the window.

I looked down. It was a one story drop into an open thing of garbage. "I'm _not _going down there!" I hissed.

"Yes you are Princess," he growled. And then against my will Duncan picked me up bridal style then jumped out of the bathroom window!

**CRASH!**

The good news? We're safe. The bad news? We landed in garbage. "I'm going to kill you," I growled through clenched teeth.

Duncan laughed. "Aha ha, no you're not."

**Author Note: **I'm still working out the kinks of the plot in my head. Hopefully this chapter had you laughing; it's hilarious when Duncan and Courtney act like little kids. Next chapter coming soon! Please review, thank you for reading, and um… yeah that's it. ;D


	9. Get Some Sleep Stay Alive Not So Simple

**Chapter Nine: Get Some Sleep, Stay Alive… not so simple**

**Duncan's POV: **

Garbage had never looked so good, especially when it covered a brunette mocha colored beauty like Courtney. I was still holding her bridal style and we were still in the trash. "I'm going to kill you," she growled through clenched teeth.

"Aha ha, no you're not," I grinned. "Now unless you want to make out in a dumpster I'd suggest letting go of me. But if you _do _want to make out in a dumpster I'm not complaining."

Seeing her eyes get filled with rage and her cheeks blush was the best part about making her angry. "You perverted idiot!" she screeched.

"Keep it down! Heather's bathroom window is right above us!"

"Oh. Right."

"Princess?"

"What?"

"You're still holding on to me." I smirked as she jerked her hands off me and gracefully leaped out of the dumpster.

"What time is it?" she yawned.

I looked at my phone. "3:57 A.M."

"Damn. Long time."

"And you haven't had any sleep since when?"

"When I woke up at your house around 4:00. But a shower is what I really need." We headed towards her car, and as she reached for the car door I stopped her. "What are you doing?" she snapped.

"I took a nap during the movie. There's no way in hell I'm letting you drive, you'll fall asleep and crash."

"No I won't!"

I rolled my eyes. Courtney always wanted to do things the hard way. So taking her shoulders in my hands I pushed her in the car, with enough power to send her to the passenger's side. "I'm driving."

She crossed her arms stubbornly. "Do you even have a license?"

"Yeah." And I'm not lying, I do have a license. Now if she had asked me if I had an un_expired_ license well I'd be in trouble. But what Princess doesn't know won't hurt me.

I started the car and backed out of the alleyway, heading for her house. "Seatbelt," she ordered.

"Sheesh."

~X~X~X~

As I predicted Courtney fell asleep in the car. So for a good ten minutes of no one nagging about my seatbelt, to stay on the road, to keep my eyes on the road, and to pay attention to the speed limit (she acts like I've never driven before) I actually got to relax and just drive. First time in a long time I got to relax, and it's 4:10 in the morning so I highly doubt there are any cops.

We reached her house and I was about to turn to wake her up, when I heard her say clear as day, "Duncan." For a second I thought she was awake. But when I looked at her she was still sound asleep.

"Guess there was no need to say sweet dreams," I smirked. For once I made a remark without getting hit. I'm greatly enjoying an unconscious Courtney. With a sigh I got out of her car and walked around to the other side, undid her seatbelt, then carried her up to her door. I can't wake her up, she's barely slept and it's because of me.

I lightly knocked on the door and Bridgette answered it (I'm surprised she's up this early). Bridgette saw me holding Courtney like a baby, and she said, "Oh my god what happened? Is she drunk? Did she pass out? You didn't drug her did you? OH MY GOD YOU DRUGGED HER! GWEN! GWEN! DUNCAN DRUGGED COURTNEY!"

"Shut up!" I hissed. "You'll wake her up! And **no** I didn't freaking drug her, okay? She fell asleep. Damn, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Bridgette blushed. "I've had nine Pepsis tonight. I'm extra super jittery."

_Extra super stupid_ I thought. "Well can I come in and drop her off?"

"Yeah," Bridgette answered. "Come on in."

With a quick glare as I passed by her, I walked up their stairs and into Princess's room. Crap, she's still slightly covered in garbage. I set her down on her office chair, taking a decoration pillow she had on her bed and propping her head up so she was comfortable. "Sleep well Princess," I smiled.

~X~X~X~

It was 8:00 in the morning when I finally came home. I couldn't take Courtney's car, so I had to walk a few blocks and I purposely took my time to enjoy some fresh air. When I walked through my door I saw Geoff crashed out on the couch. He was probably the reason Bridgette was so weird. "Wake up lazy ass," I said as I took a couch cushion and whacked him with it.

Guys could do that, call each other names and smack each other with objects without getting offended like girls do. Geoff woke up and moaned, "Leave me alone man."

"No, come on you need to wake up." I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a bowl of Frosted Flakes. Opening the fridge I saw we had no milk; oh well I'll use Dr. Pepper. Taking my bowl of cereal I plopped down on my couch and turned on the TV. By now Geoff was a little more awake and sat up on the opposite side.

"I thought we were out of milk."

"We are."

"Sick dude!" he laughed. He snatched the TV remote from me. "Think we should watch the morning news? You know, see what's going on in the world?" We both hollered with laughter.

"Seriously," I said, laughs still escaping me, "Put on something that's worth our time." Geoff skimmed through TV guide, then we finally found the CW show 'Supernatural' worth watching. That show was 'guy' enough to watch.

"So how are things going with you and your _lawyer_?" Geoff asked. "She wanting to keep things _professional_?"

I smacked him with a lamp shade this time.

He laughed. "I'll take that as a no."

"I'm easing her into my charm," I answered. "She's a difficult challenge."

"Yikes I hate challenges. Thank god Bridge and I were together within a few weeks."

"Well I happen to like challenges. Winning over Courtney Vega will be the greatest victory."

"Whatever you say man."

To guys, it was kind of a competition with each other to see how well they were doing with their girlfriend. So because Geoff and Bridgette probably spent last night making out all night, he had a smug smirk on his face. So I had to wipe that off somehow. "In fact, Courtney and I already spent the night making out on a couch," I lied. Plus, how's Geoff going to find out we spent the night arguing over ravioli?

"Did you?" he asked, still not convinced.

"Oh yeah," I lied, using my easily convincible voice and charm. "Then I drove her home and she fell asleep saying my name."

"Wow dude, good for you." Geoff once again flipped through some channels. However as time passed I heard a loud crash noise coming from the backyard. "What was that?" Geoff asked.

"I don't know man, I'm going to check it out," I answered. "It was probably a stray dog knocking down trash or something." As I stood up to walk towards the backdoor in the kitchen I heard a sound that's all too familiar-

_Cha-chik_

"Get down!" I screamed, Geoff and I immediately crashing to the floor! Immediately a flow of gun shots went off, going through our front window, if Geoff and I wouldn't have ducked we surely would have been dead! Shit, that means Alejandro has found us! I turned my head up and saw shadows of going back and forth in the front window. "We've got to ditch this place now!" I whisper/shouted to Geoff.

He nodded. He was definitely scared. I was scared too, but my face was more angry than scared. "What are we going to do?" Geoff whispered.

"I don't know. But whatever happens listen to what I tell you. We're staying alive," I answered.

"I know you're in here Duncan," I heard Alejandro laugh, through the wall separating them from killing us. "We finally found you. Pretty smart moving in with your friend since the address is listed under him, but you should know I don't give up." Alejandro's voice sounded excited to kill me. Great.

Geoff and I crawled to Geoff's bedroom, where we peaked out the window to see if any of his gang member's were surrounding there. Nope. Just as I figured, his men were only at the front and back door. We heard a crash. "They're in the house dude!" Geoff whispered.

"Open your window, and run like hell," I ordered.

"What are you going to do?"

"Hurt them before they hurt me. Now go!"

Geoff nodded and quietly slipped out his window. I guess I should've followed him, but I'm not the kind of guy who just runs away. So reaching under Geoff's bed I grabbed a hidden baseball bat and quietly slipped into the hallway, ready to swing away.

**Courtney's POV: **

I probably had the weirdest dream ever. Unfortunately I don't remember anything, but I do remember Duncan and how I was calling to him but he wouldn't come to me. Weird dream. When I opened my eyes I found myself on my office chair, and the clock reading 8:00 A.M. "Duncan?" I asked. Hmm I guess he dropped me off cause I fell asleep or something. What I really wanted to do was get some coffee, but then I remembered being in trash so I went to take a shower.

When I was done I was wearing a plain green silk top and white Capri's. "Anyone here?" I called as I went down the stairs.

"Hey Court," Gwen greeted, as she was walking past me to her room with a cup of coffee.

"Gwen! Hi. Hey do you know what happened last night?"

She raised a brow. "What happened last night as far as what?"

"I mean with me and Duncan."

Gwen's devious smile returned on her face. "I think _you _of all people should know what you did with _Duncan _last night."

"No that's not what I meant! I meant when did we come home last night?"

"Oh. Uh I heard Bridgette squealing around 4:00."

"Okay."

"And Courtney?"

"Yeah?"

"What _did _happen last night?"

There was really one answer I could give her… "Italian food!" I shouted, and then ran to the kitchen! Once I got in the kitchen I heard this loud **slam **noise! Looking out into my backyard I then saw a panting Geoff! "Geoff? Why are you here?" I asked.

"Courtney! Al and his gang are at my house! They were shooting and everything!"

My heart stopped beating it seemed like. "Oh my god," was all I could get out of my shocked mouth. "Where is Duncan?"

Before Geoff answered Bridgette ran out and grabbed him, helping him inside. "Baby! Are you okay!" she screamed.

"Tell me what happened to Duncan!" I shouted.

"He's still in the house," Geoff answered solemnly. "He told me to run and he was going to fight them off."

There was no time to analyze. No time to think. No time to plan out a strategy. There was only time for action. So I grabbed my car keys, slipped on my tennis shoes, then ran out my door and started my car! I have no idea what the hell I'm going to do… but I'm going to Duncan's house and I'm not coming back unless he's with me. My mind is made up. I have to help him.

**Duncan's POV: **

The baseball bat was firmly in my grip. As I leaned up against the wall of the hallway I saw shadows of Al's gang walking all over. I heard their voices talking, "Think they're still in here?"

"Of course they are," one guy answered. I recognized his voice, he was the tall gang member at the theater. He was the one Courtney kicked in the… well you get it. Do they really think I'm the type of guy to run and hide? They're about to find out how wrong they are.

As a shadow got closer I then saw a gang member appear, and I wasted no time hitting him full force with the baseball bat! I hit him in the gut, then took the bat and whacked his back, sending him to the ground. I got lucky, he didn't yelp or shout to alarm the others. One down, three more to go it sounds like.

"Hey Spikes is the hallway clear?" I heard the tall one ask.

Imitating the guy I just beat up I replied, "Yeah, but come here and look at something." Just as the tall one came close enough I whacked him in the chest, sending him down to his knees! Crap he had a gun! Before he was able to shoot me I whacked the gun out of his hand, except this time the others heard him groan in pain.

"Jess?" they asked, as two more guys were coming closer. Crap I can't take two at a time. I slipped into Geoff's room and hid behind his door, looking through the crack. "Jeezus what the hell happened Jess?"

"Adams is still in here…" the tall one mumbled. "He went in that room."

Shit. I had to duck as a huge fire of gun shots went off inside Geoff's room. Crap my only way out is gone. There's really only one option I can see…

"Come out, come out wherever you are," a mocking voice said as the two men stepped inside Geoff's room. They close the door I'm screwed. Luckily they just stood in the middle of the room, and looked in places like under the bed or in the closet. "We know you're in here Duncan. Hey boss! He's somewhere in here!"

That's when that son of a bitch Alejandro walked in. "Can't find the delinquent huh?" he asked in a sarcastic tone. Al laughed. "You know Adams, if you come out now we won't kill your lawyer. Though Courtney is kind of cute, who knows I might keep her around for my sake. She'll probably die when I get bored of her, or something like that. Because you know we'll find where she lives. We _always _find who we're looking for."

That does it! "Go to hell!" I screamed as I leaped out from the door, took a quick and hard whack at Alejandro, and then literally jumped out the window head first! Gun shots immediately erupted and I got up and started running full speed! Then the gang members who were standing watch at the doors saw me and started running after me, shooting wildly! Crap I need a miracle if I'm going to survive this!

Next thing I knew there was a loud car screech, and the passenger's door flying open with a commanding voice shouting, "Get in!"

At that point I didn't care who it was, I got in the car and screamed, "Drive!" The driver hit the gas and we were out of there! I turned to see who the driver was, "Courtney?"

"Uh, hi," she replied, forcing back a smile.

"You actually came to help me?"

"Well Geoff and had come our house all scared and he said you were in the house alone with Al and his gang. So yeah, I did come to help. Are you okay? They were shooting guns and everything."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where are we going?"

Courtney looked on the road. "I don't know. I just started driving I didn't have a specific destination in mind."

"Why don't you head over to Burger King or something? I'm starving."

"I'll pretend you said please," she mumbled.

I smiled. She's such a Princess.

~X~X~X~

After we went to Burger King we were back in the car heading for Princess's house. "So it looks like I'm going to have to stay at your place," I winked.

"Yeah, _right_. You and Geoff can stay in a motel."

"Ouch. That's cold babe, that's real cold."

"Don't call me babe."

"Whatever you say babe."

She groaned in frustration as she pulled up in her driveway. "We'll see what Gwen and Bridgette think about the matter," she told me as she unlocked the front door and we stepped in.

"Court guess what! Geoff and Duncan are staying with us tonight!" Bridgette squealed happily.

I smirked winningly. "What?" Courtney shrieked. "Gwen you're okay with this?"

Gwen shrugged. "Whatever."

"So Princess, am I staying in your room?" I purred.

"Ugh! You and Geoff can sleep on the couch! In fact, you can sleep on the _floor_," she replied. She stomped upstairs and slammed her door shut.

"I'll go talk to her," Bridgette said, running up after her.

I looked at Geoff who was on the couch. "So what's up?"

"Nothing man," he replied. "Are you okay Duncan? You didn't get hurt or anything?"

"Hey I'm not dead yet," I laughed.

"Duncan told Geoff _WHAT? _We never spent the night making out! I'm going to kill him!" we heard Courtney shout from upstairs.

Geoff laughed. "_Yet_."

**Author Note: **Lol! So yeah, this is a pretty long chapter so think of it as an apology for taking the extra day to update. The weather was really bad and stormy so that knocked my internet out, and I was stumped on how to write this chapter. I had the plot and everything, I just didn't know how to write it out. So yuss. But I'm working on the next chapter right now, so that way I'm ahead of you guys in writing. Please review, thank you for reading! Whoo!


	10. Good Luck

**Chapter Ten: Good Luck**

**Courtney's POV: **

You'd think after almost getting killed Duncan would be a little shaken up, right? Nope. He was just as cocky and Duncan-y as ever. It seemed he only got angry when my well being was in the equation, like when Alejandro talked about killing us, Duncan went into a rage. So somehow his strings are only pulled when it's about me. It's actually kind of sweet… in a way.

So I figured doing something creative will get my mind off stress, and I went in the kitchen to make a cake. Nothing too fancy, just a plain and simple cake. Except when I was stirring up the mix I noticed the cake box and the frosting container said _Duncan Hines _on it. I groaned in frustration, I just can't escape him! **(A/N Every time I make a cake I immediately see Duncan Hines and think of Duncan, so yeah XD) **

When I poured the cake batter into the dish to cook, I felt someone take the bowl right out of my hands! "Duncan! Give it back!" I exclaimed angrily.

He smirked that smirk I know all too well. "I want to help."

"_Right_, sure you do. How about handing over the bowl, that's how you can help."

"You already poured the cake batter out, why do you want the bowl again?"

"I want to lick the batter."

A devious grin went across that ogre's face as he took his finger and put a big glob of cake batter on his face. "Still can babe." That did it. For whatever restraint I had it just got broken. I lunged out and grabbed the bowl, but Duncan held it up in the air over his head, and he's taller than me unfortunately. "It'll be funny to see you grab it now," he laughed subtly.

"Not unless I make you shorter," I grinned. Before he had time to register what I just said I kneed him in the kiwis. He fell to his knees in pain and I grabbed the bowl victoriously. "You had it coming to you," I smiled, licking the bowl finally. At least I thought I won, until Duncan grabbed my waist and threw me on the kitchen floor with him!

"That really hurt," he growled, as he crawled on top of me and pinned me down.

"It was supposed to."

"Not nice." I struggled to get out of his grasp but he was too strong.

"What do you want?"

"An apology."

"No way!"

"Well then you're just going to be pancaked here between the kitchen floor and me until you do."

"You started it! You're the one who took the bowl from me! That wasn't nice!"

"_I'm _not nice sweetheart."

"Well I'm not sorry." It then occurred to me how insanely close Duncan's face was to mine. I could even feel his breath on my neck, and it sent chills up and down my spine. What I wanted to do was scream, but instead I said in a very low voice, "How did you get such blue eyes?"

He laughed. "I just do. Why? They enchant you?"

"They're just so blue… teal almost."

"Your eyes are like onyx gems, shining with determination and feistiness."

"Wow I'm impressed. That was pretty deep coming from you."

"Yeah, well, I have those rare moments."

There was silence. For the next few minutes we just stared into each other's eyes. Finally I smiled and said, "I'm sorry for kicking you in a sensitive area."

"I wish you wouldn't have said that," Duncan sighed.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to let you go."

"You want to stay on the kitchen floor all night?"

"If it means you're under me." Usually there would be a huge scowl across my face, but instead I was smiling, beaming even. He was too, and we both lay there like a couple of smiling dorks; but we didn't care. Then he surprised me, because he leaned down like he was going to press his lips to mine… but instead he pressed his lips against the soft spot on the side of my neck. It was like fireworks erupted as soon as he kissed my neck, and my smile got wider if that was even possible. There was really one word to describe this feeling; warmth. He was so warm.

Duncan lifted up his head and smiled. "Surprise you Princess?" he asked softly.

"You have no idea," I whispered. My eyes were closed and I looked as if I was in complete bliss. The feeling of his breath on my bare skin was getting intoxicating.

Then I felt the pressure of his warm body against me lift and he stood up, still looking down at me with an amused look. "Look disappointed," he grinned.

"I, uh, uh…" There was no excuse for this one. He had me and he knew it, which is probably why his grin is so wide. Slowly I got up from the kitchen floor and opened the oven to see when the cake was done. "Only ten more minutes. I should go put on my pajamas while we're waiting."

Not even waiting for him to reply I went up the stairs and into my room, shutting and locking the door. Then I put on my lime green **(A/N Everyone is making lime green a color for Courtney, and I couldn't help it I had to too XD)** nightgown, which was sleeveless and came up to my knees. Usually I was worried about how much skin I showed in front of Mr. Pervert but tonight I didn't care. After I that I stood in front of my full length mirror and just smiled like an idiot as I stared at the spot on my neck Duncan kissed.

~X~X~X~

"CAKE!" Geoff exclaimed as he raced to the plate of strawberry cake I had made. "Sweet dude! You make this Mocha?"

"Yeah," I smiled, "And Duncan helped me hold the bowl." My eyes went to Duncan's face and he smirked, both of us trying not to laugh. Geoff, Gwen and Bridgette didn't notice our little eye contact they were too busy getting plates for cake.

After they were done I got myself a plate of cake and went up to my room, going out my window and sat on the balcony, staring up at the starry night. Right now I was feeling… peace. You'd think I'd feel stressed out and scared from Alejandro shooting at Duncan today, right? No. I felt a peace I haven't felt for awhile. For so long I was always caught up in the stress and pressure of being a lawyer… and it took a certain delinquent to make me loosen up.

That was another thing that made me smile. I've known Duncan for… six days now. Six days. And he's already had this weird effect on me. He makes me angry, annoyed, and worried yet at the same time I can't stay away from him. What is wrong with me? How can a boy have this effect on me?

"Mind if I join you Princess?" his voice asked.

I turned around and saw him behind me holding a plate of cake. "Sure," I smiled.

He sat down next to me and smirked. "You look like you've got a lot on your mind."

"You have no idea," I replied. "How about you? How are you feeling?"

"Pretty decent. I'm not dead so I must be in good shape."

I rolled my eyes. "You shouldn't joke about your well being."

"Ah, I didn't know you cared."

"Well I do."

"You do?"

"Yup."

"Wow. What happened to Miss Defiance?"

"She's not feeling very defiant right now."

"I can honestly say that's shocking. So Princess, any plans about our current situation?"

"Yeah I got a few. See, it's clear we can't take out Alejandro, which means we're going to have to take out Heather."

"Which means?"

"It means I'm going to set Heather up in court so she'll admit everything."

"And how are you going to set her up?"

"Look, it's too long to explain. But I'm fighting this battle my way, and that's in court."

"Well the only problem I'm seeing is us trying to stay alive until the court hearing in two weeks or so. Too bad we can't have the case sooner."

"That's it! Duncan you're a genius!" I stood up and smiled. "We're going to change the court date!"

"How?"

"By having a talk with Chris," I grinned.

~X~X~X~

**The next day…**

"Did I ever tell you how hot you look in a suit?" Duncan purred.

"Yeah, you did."

"Did I say you look _really, really, really _hot?"

"No, I don't remember that many reallys."

"Well it's true babe, you are that hot looking."

I turned to face Duncan. "How do you expect me to react when you do that? Do you think I'm going to blush and giggle, throw myself at you and return your compliment just because you said I was hot? I'm just curious, how do you expect me to react when you do that?"

"Well for a _regular_ girl I expect them to smile and giggle and probably throw themselves at me. Girls are easy that way. But _you _aren't regular. _You _are Miss Can't Have Me, and you make yourself a challenge to get. But let me tell you a secret Princess…" Duncan wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into him, my ear up to his mouth, "I always take on challenges," he whispered smoothly.

"I bet you wish I would swoon over you doing that," I smiled.

"Maybe."

"Well you're wrong." Saying that I got out of his grasp and stood a few feet away from him. Duncan and I were right outside the courthouse and I was wearing a black suit with a green tank top underneath and my same black heels. I happened to look presentable. Duncan on the other hand… well let's just say you can't show up to court in ripped baggy jeans, a skull shirt, and red converses.

The plan was for me to go in the courthouse (Duncan stays with Geoff and waits outside like a good little delinquent) and I talk to Chris about moving the court case date. Of course I had to call Harold, Heather's lawyer, to come and meet us as well since he's representing the plaintiff. I just hope it's just Harold who shows up, and he doesn't bring Heather with him. Then again I can't complain much I brought Duncan with me, but I also brought a babysitter, Geoff.

For a few minutes I stared inside the courthouse, looking at how all the secretaries worked on their computers and all the lawyers inside waiting around for their cases to start looked absolutely bored. And to think I wanted to be one of them… now I don't know what I want. I sighed, "Wish me luck."

"I'd rather give you this-,"

Duncan pulled me back into his arms and gave me that same warm kiss, this time on my lips. I was in shock, but I just closed my eyes and let the warmth of his lips caress mine. You could say it was the perfect moment until…

"Way to go man!" Geoff cheered. Immediately I pulled Duncan off me Geoff's outburst scaring me! **(A/N Ahaha don't you just **_**love **_**Geoff and his timing? ;D) **

Blush immediately filled my face and I looked at Duncan who was smirking. Our faces were still close together. "Uh… I, uh… don't… uh," I stammered.

He laughed. "Just go."

I nodded and walked into the courthouse smiling like the biggest dork ever.

~X~X~X~

"What do you mean you want to change the court date?" Chris asked. Harold and I were sitting in Chris's office with Chef behind him with the usual scowl on his face.

"It's just that my client and I wish to proceed in the case sooner. Could you possibly fit a court date in a few days?" I asked in an innocent voice.

"That would actually work out for me as well, because I'm going to be at math camp all next week," Harold said.

"Didn't need to know that," Chris replied.

"Just saying is all! **Gosh!**"

Chris rolled his eyes. "Chef can you look through my schedule? Am I free in a few days?"

Chef nodded and grabbed a black schedule planner (though it looked like a diary). He cleared his throat, "Saturday you have an appointment at 2:00 to get your hair shampooed, then at 3:00 conditioned, Sunday at 12:30 you have an appointment to get your hair blow dried, then at 4:00 you meet with a hair consultant and finally at 7:00 you're going to the hairspray convention."

What the hell? Who spends that much time and money on hair? It's a damn good thing I didn't bring Duncan with me, otherwise he'd be laughing his ass off at what Chef just read. In fact, I found myself holding back a smile.

"Hmm. Sounds like I'm only free Friday. What day is it?"

"Thursday," Harold answered.

"Okay, well it looks like your court case is tomorrow," Chris said.

"Tomorrow! The case is tomorrow!" I exclaimed, jumping out of my seat.

"He just said that **gosh**!" Harold spat.

Chris raised a brow. "Got a problem with tomorrow? Because I can always push it three weeks ahead…"

"No!" I assured him. Duncan and I might be _dead _by then. "Tomorrow is uh, fine."

"Good," Chris smiled. "Now you two get the hell out of my office."

"That's not a very nice way to talk to us," Harold said.

"HE SAID GET OUT!" Chef roared.

Harold and I scrambled out of Chris's office! We didn't even stop running, we kept running until I took a sharp turn left to go to the ladies' bathroom. The bathroom was empty thankfully. So for a minute I stood in front of the mirror and smiled like a dork because I thought about Duncan. Oh my god! If he is going to have this effect on me I'm in big trouble!

Speaking of trouble, the door to one of the stalls opened and out walked… Heather. As soon as she saw me her eyes filled up with hatred, but I ignored her and started to wash my hands. Should I say something to her? Should I ignore her? Finally I said in a pleasant voice, "Hello."

"Hi," she answered in a sweet voice dripping with poison. "Harold texted me, I guess I'll be seeing you in court tomorrow."

"Yup," I replied, drying my hands off with a paper towel. "I guess you will."

"Well I just hope you're not going to be too upset."

"Too upset for what?"

"For Duncan going to prison."

"Hmm. What happened to your boyfriend Alejandro wanting to kill him? What, did you two decide that now you want to stop trying to kill him and put him in prison for the money? Well I'm going to give you some advice." A devilish smile went across my face, "I'm not letting Duncan go to prison or get killed. And tomorrow in court I will destroy you."

Heather's face was riled up in rage. "You're not getting anything out of me!" she snapped.

"Oh we'll see," I smiled. Then I turned on my heels and walked out the door. That bitch is going down.

**Author's Note (a very long author's note for that matter)**

Waaah I hope you guys liked this chapter! It was sort of difficult to write just because I've never done romance before… like ever… I've always stuck to humor and action. So PLEASE review, and thank you so much for the reviews so far! I really do appreciate them!

Anyway, did you guys see the new TDWT? I'm starting to like the Alejandro/Heather thing they've got going on. I even like Heather better this season, she's still mean and stuff but for some reason she's more likeable. And I wish they'd get that DxG kiss over with! Wouldn't it be horrible if they kissed at the end of the season and you're left wondering, "WHAT ABOUT COURTNEY?"

Yeah. Don't want that to happen. I've heard rumors that DJ is one of the guys in the final two. Squee I lurve DJ! *ahem* anyway thanks for reading :D!


	11. Night Before the Case

**Chapter Eleven: Night Before The Case**

**Duncan's POV: **

"Ouch! What was that for dude?"

I crossed my arms after whacking Geoff upside the head. "If you hadn't said anything I would've still be making out with Courtney."

"Oh… sorry man. But come on, you're outside a court house this isn't exactly an ideal make out spot."

"Whatever. Next time, don't _ruin the moment_. You know how hard Courtney is. Jeez I'm surprised she even let me kiss her."

"AH!" Geoff exclaimed in his cutesy voice. "Does somebody need a hug?" he teased.

"F off man," I told him (though I didn't offend him).

"I know I need a hug," someone said behind us. Geoff and I turned around to see DJ.

"Hey big guy, what happened?" Geoff asked.

"I lost my bunny. He was in the yard eating grass, next thing I knew he was hopping off and now he's gone," DJ sighed. He fought back a tear, "BUNNY! WHY'D YOU LEAVE ME LIKE THIS?"

**Courtney's POV: **

My mood was furious as I walked out of the courthouse. But immediately my spirits were lifted when I saw Geoff and Duncan squeezed against DJ, the cop who was there the first day I met Duncan. I smiled, "Well, well, I don't want to interrupt your little moment so I'll just wait."

Duncan flashed me a glare. "It's not what you think!" He fought out of DJ's hug and pretended to wipe himself off with a fake angry face on.

"Really? Cause I think you've gone soft."

"I have not gone soft!"

"My mama says there's nothing wrong with hugs. Not only do they bring us all closer together but they're cuddly too!" DJ smiled. "Well I better get to work. Bye guys!"

"Weird dude. Good heart though," Geoff mumbled.

Duncan was still glaring at me for calling him soft. "Oh don't be such a baby," I smiled.

"You're going to get it," he growled.

"_Sure _I am. Now come on, let's get out of here." Geoff took his own car and Duncan rode with me in mine, me driving of course. He was still sour about me catching him in a hug with Geoff and DJ. Maybe I shouldn't have teased him… but that was revenge for pretty much every minute he teases me! Though he does seem kind of pouty… hmm…

"You should keep your eyes on the road, not on me sweetheart. I know I'm distracting in all, but you should try to ignore my good looks," Duncan smirked smugly.

"Pff! You are so full of it!" I retorted.

He laughed. "So what happened in the courthouse?"

"Just a bunch of crap."

"Wow Princess, you are really going into detail by telling me that."

"Okay, fine want details? The court trial is tomorrow, and I have no freaking idea what I'm going to do. I have no plan, no strategy, _nothing_. And guess what? I don't care! I'm going to wing it, and I'm taking that no good bitch Heather down!" **(A/N I actually like Heather in TDWT now though XD) **

Duncan didn't reply. Smart move, I was literally seething as I clutched the steering wheel with all my strength. Finally he smiled, "You're really hot when you're angry, you know that?"

"Is that all you can seriously focus on? How hot you think I am? You're not concerned that I have no strategy to win _your _case?"

He shrugged. "At least your trying. And I uh…" his voice trailed off. Then he put his hand on top of mine, giving a little squeeze. "I trust you," he murmured.

Whoa. Didn't see that coming. "R-really?"

"Yeah. I trust you."

"T-thanks."

"Princess?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not going to get emotional on me are you?"

As soon as he said that I felt a lump form in my throat and my eyes water. "N-no," I answered, my voice cracking. Damn it.

"You sound like you're getting choked up," he teased playfully.

"S-something is in my eye," I answered pathetically.

"Sure Princess," he smiled. "So, can we stop by another place before going to your house?"

"Yeah, sure. Where to?"

"The Pet Shop. Don't ask."

~X~X~X~

When we got home Duncan was holding a cute and tiny white bunny, with big shiny blue eyes and a pink nose. I asked him what the bunny was for but he didn't answer. He didn't need to though, because as soon as Geoff saw the bunny he exclaimed, "DJ is going to be so psyched dude!"

"Yeah, I just saw the little guy on the road and the stupid rabbit kept following Princess and I. So whatever I just brought the stupid thing home," Duncan huffed under his breath.

What? "That's not true we went- OOMPH!" Duncan elbowed me in the arm. "Ouch!" I hissed. He just glared at me and shrugged. Stupid delinquent. Geoff called DJ to come over while Bridgette and Gwen babied the bunny.

Ten minutes later DJ was over. "What's the big surprise Geoff? What's going on?" he asked.

"Just wait and see," Geoff answered, leading DJ to the door. "Surprise!" he opened the door to reveal the brand new bunny sitting there. (Bridgette even put a bow around his neck to add to the surprise).

"BUNNY!" DJ exclaimed. He picked up the bunny and snuggled it tight. "How did you guys find one that looked exactly like my other one?"

"Just luck," I answered, smiling.

"Thanks guys. I'll be at the trial tomorrow so good luck. Bye!"

"Bye DJ," Duncan, Geoff, Bridgette and I said. We watched him leave holding his brand new bunny.

"We'll I'm going to go challenge Gwen to beat my high score on Rock Band. Want to play baby?" Bridgette asked.

"Sure do!" Geoff exclaimed. They ran upstairs to Gwen's room.

I smiled at Duncan. "What?" he asked defensively.

"You're a nice guy!" I exclaimed with a huge smile.

"No I'm not!" he roared.

"Really? Because nice guys get this-." I pecked Duncan on the cheek.

"_Maybe _I'm a _little _nice when I want to be."

"That's what I thought," I smiled. "Goodnight."

"Is that it?"

I laughed. "For tonight." I chuckled at Duncan's expression as I went into my room and shut the door. Tomorrow was it. But I'm not nervous. Because I'm not alone. Duncan and I are in this together.

**Author Note:**

Okay I'm really, really, really, sorry I didn't update! But I can honestly say it's not my fault, our internet modem stopped working and we had to wait for our internet people to send us a new one. It's not even here yet, I'm at a fast food restaurant using their wi-fi! The modem should be here Wednesday, and HOPEFULLY after that everything will be back to normal.

So please, be patient and I'm sorry! I'm also sorry this chapter was kind of… not about the trial. The next few chapters will be about it I promise, then my story will be wrapped up for an end :D I'm thinking of doing another story after this one, one with DxC (of course) and probably TxG, GxB, and some Izzy! Cause Izzy is hilarious! So um… **please **review, I'm really **sorry**, and **THANK YOU** for reading! ;D


	12. The Trial: Part One

**Chapter Twelve: The Trial Part One**

**Duncan's POV: **

"Good morning Princess," I purred as I saw Courtney walk down the stairs in the morning. She was in a huge T-shirt for pajamas with morning bed head, but she still managed to look hot. It was 6:00 in the morning and the trial wasn't until 10:00, but something told me Princess couldn't sleep. I couldn't sleep much either.

"Good morning," she smiled back, yawning after that. She opened the pantry and kept looking through it. Finally she shut it and asked, "Do you know if anyone ate my Frosted Flakes?"

"Yeah Princess, I'm finishing them off now," I answered, showing her my bowl of the soggy flakes.

"Damn it Duncan I wanted to eat those for breakfast!"

I plopped a spoonful in my mouth and held it open, "Still can babe." I was expecting her to scream, 'EW!' and be disgusted. But instead she walked up to me and smiled sneakily. "Are you seriously taking me up on my offer?" I asked in disbelief.

"Well… I was going to do… this-"

Courtney snatched the bowl and ran to the other side of the kitchen. "Hey!" I exclaimed.

She smiled and slurped down the rest of the bowl of cereal. "Well what do you know, the criminal got stolen from," she snickered.

"You got lucky."

"Yeah, _sure _I did. All I have to do is act like a tease and you're immediately in my grasp." Courtney laughed again and put the bowl in the sink. "Do you own a suit or anything?"

I laughed. "Yeah, like a guy like me owns a suit."

"Well you've got to dress up nice for the trial. What you wear now isn't going to cut it."

"Please! I could show up naked and compliment Chris's hair and he wouldn't care!"

"Probably, but no one wants to see you in your birthday suit."

"Sure about that babe?" I winked.

"DUNCAN!"

"Okay fine! Just what exactly did you have in mind?"

_Fifteen minutes of Duncan and Courtney arguing and wrestling through clothes in a closet later-_

I had to admit, I didn't look that bad in a suit. I looked like the criminal on White Collar, with a dark green suit that ironically matched the green on my mowhawk. **(A/N Duncan would look so good dressed like that lol! *cough* not that I care…) **

"Dude I wish I made a suit look that good," Geoff sighed. "Bridge and I are going to be matching today."

"Wow man, not going to lie that's really lame," I snickered.

"You wouldn't say that if you and Courtney wore matching colors!"

"I wish. But it's different if it's her and I."

"How?"

"I don't know, just is."

Geoff rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say man you're crazy. Speaking of crazy, I'm hosting a wild party tonight after the trial! You're totally invited!"

"Sweet. I'll be looking forward to going to a party instead of prison."

"Wouldn't it be epic if I threw a party in prison?"

"Totally would be."

"You two done? We've got to leave." Geoff and I turned around to see Bridgette, Gwen and Courtney standing there. W-O-W. Bridgette was wearing a dark blue sleeveless dress and white high heels, Gwen a black tank top, skirt, leggings, and boots (chick is such a goth), and finally Princess was wearing a sleeveless purple dress that went half past her calves, with a shiny black belt and tights to be finished off with purple heels.

Geoff and I couldn't talk. There was just… nothing we could say after seeing _that _sight. Bridgette giggled, "Come on Geoff we'll take your car."

"I'm actually driving with Trent," Gwen said.

"OOH! Who's Trent?" Bridgette squealed.

Gwen blushed a little. "He's just this guy who always eats at Cheesecake Factory that I talk to after work. He'll be in the audience with us today, okay?"

"AH YOU'VE GOT A DATE! HOW CUTE!" Bridgette squealed.

"Shut up," Gwen mumbled.

"Yeah Bridge, your constant squealing is starting to give me migraines," Courtney added. Bridgette rolled her eyes and went in the car with Geoff. A few minutes later Trent pulled up and Gwen left with him; which left Princess and I.

"I'm driving," I say to her as she unlocks her car.

"No, you're not," she objected.

"Yes, I am."

"Not until you say the magic word."

"Now."

"No, _please_."

"Fine. Please."

Courtney smiled as she got in the passenger's seat. "You'll be surprised how far a please can go," she said.

"I'll make a mental note of that," I snickered.

**Courtney's POV: **

My stomach was in knots as we walked into court. There was Chef, standing next to where Chris would sit, the jury sitting to the left, Harold and Heather in plaintiff seats, and surprisingly a lot of people in the audience. But where was… there! Sitting behind Heather in the audience was Alejandro. It reminded me of the first time I met Duncan… he was sitting in the defendant's seat and I was behind him in the audience. Except then he was wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and…

"Earth to Princess," Duncan said, waving his hand in my face.

"What?" I asked.

"You want to take a seat?" he asked. "Standing there oblivious isn't going to help much."

"Uh, right." I sat down in my seat, Duncan right next to me. We looked over to our left and saw Harold and Heather talking and strategizing about their case, which made me even more nervous.

"So do you have a plan?" Duncan whispered.

"Tell the truth. Whatever the hell you do, tell the truth," I whispered back.

"Why?"

"10-15 years in prison for committing perjury if you lie on the stand." **(A/N That's true actually. I'm not too sure how long, but somewhere between 10-15 years.) **

"ALL RISE FOR THE HONORABLE CHRIS MCLEAN!" Chef roared.

Everyone rolled their eyes as they stood up. "Thank you, thank you," Chris smiled as he walked out and sat down in his huge black chair. "Before we begin I'd like to say that I stopped giving my hair the windblown look and went with straightening it. I'm thinking of dying it. Any comments?"

Everybody (and I mean _everybody_) just looked at each other awkwardly and wasn't sure _what _to say. "HE SAID ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS!" Chef roared.

"Yeah, it'd look great," everyone mumbled.

"Thanks, I think so too," Chris smiled, pleased. "Okay, court is now in session!"

"Your honor I'd like to get Duncan Adams on the stand," Harold said.

Chris looked at Duncan. "Alright Mr. Adams, get on up here." Duncan gave me one final look before getting up on the stand.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth so help you God?" Chef asked Duncan.

"Yeah, whatever," Duncan answered.

"Good enough," Chef sighed. **(A/N Lol hilarious to picture in my head of Chef asking Duncan XD) **

"So Mr. Adams, what were you doing the night of August 28th?" Harold questioned.

"What happened August 28th?" Duncan asked.

"The murder! **Gosh!**"

"Oh yeah, that's right. What was your question again?"

Harold released this loud and heavy breathing noise. Duncan was trying to get on his nerves and it was hilarious. "Okay let me restart. What did you do at 5:00 P.M. August 20th?"

"Went to Taco Bell and ate some burritos. Then I went home and watched some TV with my buddy Geoff until 8:00 or so. After that I left the house and started walking to this new club in town."

"So how did you arrive at the crime scene? The victim was shot around 9:45-10:00 according to the police reports."

"I took a shortcut in the alleyway he lived in while walking to the club."

"Had you ever been down that alleyway before?"

"No."

"Were you carrying a gun?"

"No."

"So tell me, Mr. Adams, why did you try to steal the victim's car?"

"I didn't."

"Well I think you did. I think you were walking down the alleyway, saw the car, couldn't contain your criminal thoughts, tried to steal the car, the victim heard you and came outside with a gun. Then as he started shooting wildly you pulled out the gun _you _had and shot him. You killed him, then somehow got knocked out, woke up, and there was his cold dead body lying in a puddle of his own blood." Harold was actually… serious about this.

"Objection!" I exclaimed.

"Overruled," Chris replied. "What do you have to say about that Mr. Adams?"

"It's not true," Duncan replied. "I didn't kill anyone."

"Oh really?" Harold asked, "Then please enlighten us as to _who _did!"

"Him!" Duncan shouted. He pointed and we all turned around- and saw a smiling Alejandro…

**Author's Note:**

Yes I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Just part one of the trial, I think it'll be three parts then this story will come to an end. So my internet modem isn't here yet, as far as I know the plan is still receiving it Wednesday, where everything will hopefully be back to normal. So please review, and thank you for reading!


	13. The Trial: Part Two

**Chapter Thirteen: The Trial Part Two**

**Duncan's POV: **

"Him!" I shouted, pointing to Alejandro, who had a stupid ass smile across his face.

"Him?" Harold asked. "He's not even in this case?"

"What is your name?" Chris asked.

"My name is Alejandro Madevez," Alejandro answered. "Please, call me Al."

"And would you care if you were questioned Al?" Chris asked.

"No, not at all senior," Al smiled.

"I'm not done questioning Duncan!" Harold whined.

"FINE! Harold finish questioning Duncan and we'll call you up on the stand when the time comes Al," Chris said.

"Man has some nice looking hair," Chef said to Chris.

"I know. I wonder what shampoo he uses," Chris answered.

"Uh, can I continue?" Harold asked.

"YES, just ask your questions!"

"Well I wasn't sure if you meant now, **gosh!**" Harold turned to me. Jeez Harold really made me want to sock him in his nerdy face. He was such a nerd it was pitiful. "So Duncan, why don't you give us your side of what happened the night of the murder?"

I sighed and looked at Courtney- which was a mistake because she looked so hot I lost my train of thought. Seriously, she looked really good in that dress, with her hair straightened and her onyx eyes shining…

"Any day now Mr. Adams," Chef growled.

"Oh. Right. Uh… so after I ate burritos and watched TV I headed out to this new club in town, and took a shortcut through an alleyway. Then here comes Alejandro and his gang members, and they corner me and beat me up so I can't leave. Then one of them tries to break into a car, which they were going to pin me for, and while they were trying to break in the owner of the car heard them and came out with a gun. The owner starts shooting wildly, and in all the hectic gunfire I tried to escape, but I was hit upside the head and when I woke up the owner was dead, Al's gang was gone, and the police were there."

"Likely story!" Harold exclaimed.

"Objection! It is a likely story!" Courtney shouted, standing up.

"No it's not! You'd have to be a complete idiot to believe that!" Harold shouted back.

"Oh really? Because you'd have to be a complete _nerd _to think that a bright orange suit with a dark green bowtie looks good!" Courtney retorted.

"Ooooohhhh," the audience awed.

"Order! Order!" Chris exclaimed, banging his gavel. "Miss Vega is right though, those shades of green and orange don't mix."

I saw Courtney smile at me and smirk. A plan was going through her head; I could tell.

**Courtney's POV: **

Ha! I just owned Harold! But I haven't won yet, I have to be careful about this. "Your honor, I would like to question now," I said.

"I'm not done yet!" Harold exclaimed.

"Too bad, you're boring me," Chris replied. "Come on up here Miss Vega." Harold muttered something under his breath and sat down next to Heather.

"I would like to have Heather at the stand," I said.

Heather gave me a quick scowl, then sat up on the questioning chair, Duncan sitting back down in the defendant's seat. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help-"

"YES JUST GET ON WITH IT!" Heather snapped, interrupting Chef.

Chef growled. "I've had better jobs in prison."

"So Heather, the victim Bob Smith **(A/N yes I gave the victim a name, and Bob Smith is a very silly name XD) **was your boyfriend? Correct?" I asked.

"Yes, he was planning to propose," Heather answered.

"I see. And is it true that your boyfriend was the CEO of the West Breeze shipping company down at the docks of here?"

"Yes, he controlled the import-export business."

"I see. And had you went to his work with him?"

Heather looked away for a slight second. "Yes," she answered carefully, "I've brought him lunch to him at work hundreds of times. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well if you've been to his work a hundred times then you're probably familiar with the workers there, aren't you?"

"Maybe. If I saw a face I might recognize someone."

"Hmm. So do you recognize him?" I pointed to Alejandro.

"No," Heather lied. "I do not know him."

"Really?" I asked incredulously. "Because that man is Alejandro Madevez, and he has worked for your deceased boyfriend for the six years he was CEO. Does he look familiar now?"

Heather shot me a hateful glare. "Yes," she said through grinded teeth, "Now he looks familiar."

"That's what I thought," I smiled.

"Objection! What is the point?" Harold interfered.

"I have a point! If he'd be quiet I'd make it!" I defended.

"Well hurry up Miss Vega! Tabatha's Salon Takeover Marathon is on today and I want to get this trial over with to watch!" Chris exclaimed. Everyone (including Chef) rolled their eyes.

"So I've been doing some online research, and I found some very interesting information about you deceased boyfriend. Apparently, Bob Smith got fired from his job as CEO. He got fired because he was secretly importing and exporting illegal cocaine. Did you know this, Heather?"

"Yes. They searched my house and everything. We don't know where the cocaine is," she answered.

"Oh. I see. So there's still some missing cocaine, is there?"

"Yes, that's what the cops told me."

"Well then do you want to know what I think Heather?"

"I think you're crazy," she snarled.

"No, I think I'm right. While Bob was still alive you developed a relationship with his employee Alejandro, didn't you? And Al here was helping your boyfriend smuggle cocaine, wasn't he? And so you and Al decided you two would steal the cocaine, kill your boyfriend, and then make money off selling the drugs! That was your plan, wasn't it? But you had one flaw- you needed someone to blame for your boyfriend's death, you needed someone to pin!"

"I didn't kill my boyfriend!" Heather screamed angrily.

"Oh but you did! You and Alejandro decided to set up my client Duncan Adams for the murder! And guess what, it worked didn't it? Of course the cops would believe someone like Duncan would kill someone, he's been to juvie in his past records thirty times! Solid plan, wasn't it? Except you made one fatal flaw; you left the evidence inside your home, didn't you? Behind the wall you secretly stashed the cocaine! But Alejandro was the one to shoot your boyfriend, wasn't he?"

"No! He didn't kill anyone!"

"He did! He killed him and you stashed the drugs! Isn't that what happened? Isn't it? He killed him!"

"No! He didn't!"

"He did!"

"NO! I DID!" Heather screamed.

"Order, order!" Chris hollered, banging his gavel.

Heather realized what she just did. "You little bitch! You tricked me!"

"Tricked you? Ha! I just made you confess! You and Alejandro were the ones who did all of this. And so you were the one to pull the trigger on the gun. You killed your boyfriend. His blood is on _your _hands."

"I'll kill you!" Heather shouted, "I'll kill you, and Duncan, I swear I will!"

"Good luck with that," I smiled. "It'll be pretty hard to kill me when you're in prison."

"Heather Ginger and Alejandro Madevez I find you guilty for the murder of Bob Smith and you will have 20 plus years in federal prison," Chris stated. "Court adjourned!"

Duncan ran up to me and hugged me, squeezing me close against him! "You did it Princess!" he exclaimed happily. I hugged him back and let him carry me back to where Geoff, Bridgette, Gwen and Trent were.

"That was amazing Courtney!" Bridgette squealed.

"But I'm not going down without a fight!" Alejandro shouted. And in a quick blink of an eye there was a gunshot, and a searing pain going into my side. Oh my god. I've just been shot…

**Author's Note: **DRAMA! Oh my rada what is going to happen now? Well the next chapter is the last and final chapter! Depending on how many reviews and how fast I can type it I will have it up soon. SOOOO please review, and thank you for reading! Oh and I have a new one-shot I wrote that's on my profile, so maybe you could check that story out ;) You guys rock! Whoo!


	14. Final Chapter, Final Straw

**Chapter Fourteen: Final Chapter, Final Straw **

**Duncan's POV: **

I was happy, so, so, happy. Princess just won the trial case, I wasn't going to jail! So I ran over to her and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her in close to me. "You did it Princess!" I exclaimed. She hugged me back and I dragged her over to our ecstatic friends.

"You were amazing Courtney!" Bridgette squealed. That's when everything turned _bad_.

I didn't hear what Alejandro had said, but what I did hear, was a **BANG!** And I've been on the streets too long, I knew what that was. It was a gun shot. And the next thing I knew Courtney moaned, and her eyes fluttered to the back of her head. And suddenly I felt my shirt wet, and I looked down to see Courtney's blood spilling out on me. "NO!" I shouted.

"Dun…can…," Courtney mumbled as she fell back weakly into my arms.

"He's got a gun!" I heard Trent shout as Alejandro ran out of the courtroom.

"After him!" Chef roared.

"Bridgette! Geoff! Call the paramedics and look after Courtney! Don't let her die!" I screamed.

"Don't leave me…," Courtney struggled saying.

I gripped Courtney's face in my hands and pulled her head to mine. "You're going to be okay Courtney. You're going to live."

"Duncan…"

"I love you Princess." Then I let her go and ran after Alejandro. This was the final straw. I'm not letting him get away with this.

As fast as I could I ran out of the courthouse and into the busy sidewalks and streets outside. There I saw Alejandro running across the street and into the park. I picked up my speed and ran after him, quickly catching up to him, considering he was nearly ten yards ahead. Al noticed I was running after him and he made a sharp turn left, throwing me off. "Damn it!" I cursed as I tried to catch back up to him.

Now Al was a few yards ahead of me and was heading into an old abandoned construction building. "Give it up Adams!" he laughed as he ran through a broken window. "Your girlfriend is as good as dead. Or should I say your _princess_."

"Go to hell!" I screamed. Alejandro laughed and started running up a flight of rickety stairs, and by now I was only a few feet behind him. Then when he was all the way up the stair case I lunged at him, knocking us both to the ground. We were on the first story and wrestling each other on the ground.

Alejandro was winning though. He punched me in the eyes and battered my stomach, standing up while I writhed in pain. He wiped a sweat drop off his forehead then grabbed a wooden plank with rusty nails in it. "I always thought you were weak Adams," he smiled. "But I didn't know what buttons to push on you."

"AH!" I bawled in shear agony as Al pounded the board down on my legs.

"So now I've killed your princess," he laughed. "Now who should be next? Your best buddy Geoff? Courtney's friends Bridgette and Gwen?"

"No!" I cried. "Kill me! Leave them out of this!"

"Oh but where's the fun in that? If I kill the rest of them you'll die knowing it's _your _fault they're all going to die. I bet the expression on your cold dead face will be priceless."

"You're a fucking mad man, you know that? I hope you burn in hell!" I spat. Then I screamed again, as the wooden board hit my chest this time.

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. But that won't change how you're going to die, isn't it?" Al smiled. "So say goodbye."

As Alejandro lifted the board over his head for the final blow I had a sudden flash before my eyes. I saw Courtney, smiling, and with those bright onyx eyes shining. And that's what gave me the adrenaline and will to go on, to keep fighting. So right as Alejandro started to bring the board down to smash my face, I kicked him in the gut, making him drop the board! And the exact second after that I took the board in my grasp, and swung away at his face.

And that was all it took. One swing. And Alejandro fell down dead, from his skull being cracked in half by the ferocity of the board. I swung so hard I killed him, and I broke the board into a million pieces. "Goodbye," I smirked, and spit on that fucker's face. Now there's one thing to do. Find Princess.

**Courtney's POV: **

I had no idea when I slipped into blackness. All I can remember was being held in Duncan's arms, with his hands against my face. "Duncan," was all I could murmur, "Don't leave me." He said something but I was slipping into the black I couldn't hear him. But if I didn't know better, I could've sworn he said I love you.

The next thing I heard was voices shouting across a room, "She has a pulse! She's still breathing!"

Then I heard crying. Bridgette? I wanted to ask, but I couldn't speak. Where am I? I'm surrounded by darkness, and I don't see anything but black. Am I dead? I was shot. But did I die? "Where am I?" I shouted into the darkness. There was no reply.

I stood up and walked around, but there was infinite black all around, and it didn't matter where I went I was still in the same place. "Hello!" I cried. "Hello is anyone there?" Then I looked down and I saw my clothes were stained with my blood, and the bullet hole in me was still there. "Oh my god maybe I am dead," I croaked. "Or maybe I'm in a coma!" The idea of me lying on a hospital bed hooked up to machines with hundreds of tubes running through my body scared me. I'd rather be dead than in a coma.

I started to cry. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned around-

There was Duncan, looking at me with those big bright teal eyes. "Duncan! Are you dead too?" I asked.

"No Princess," he answered. "And you're not dead either."

"I-I'm not?"

"No. But if you want to stay alive you need to pull through. Do you hear me? You need to pull through."

"I don't understand."

Duncan put his hands on my shoulders. "Do you want to live?" he asked.

"Yes! I want to live! I want to be with you!" I cried.

"Then fight Courtney. Fight!" Duncan yelled. Then he disappeared.

"No! Don't leave me! Don't leave me Duncan!" I shrieked. "No! No! NO!"

Then there was this sudden jolt, and I sprung up and felt a painful tug on my chest! "She's alive!" a stranger's voice exclaimed. "Oh my god she came back to life!"

"Duncan!" I screamed. Then I realized I was in a hospital with doctors all around me, scrambling back and forth the operating room.

"She came back to life, she came back to life!" a nurse exclaimed. Then my eyes rolled to the back of my head and I fell back on the pillow beneath me…

~X~X~X~

When I opened my eyes I took notice I was under a soft bed, with a plush pillow propping me up, and Gwen, Bridgette, Trent, DJ, and Geoff were all around my bed. "Hello?" I asked.

"Oh my god! Courtney! You're awake!" Bridgette hollered, hugging me. She and Gwen hugged me tight, and started to cry.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You got shot by Al, Court. And they said you weren't going to make it, and they said you died! But you came back! You came back and you're alive now! You'll be here in the hospital for a few days or so," Gwen answered, getting choked up.

"We love you Courtney. Don't scare us like that again," Bridgette sobbed.

"I'm sorry," I replied. "I didn't mean to." Gwen and Bridgette just sobbed harder, and held me tighter. "I guess this means I'm missing your party," I smile weakly to Geoff.

"No worries Mocha," he replied. After five minutes Geoff and Trent came and took Bridgette and Gwen off me. "We should let Courtney rest," Geoff whispered softly.

"Okay," Bridgette agreed, giving a smile. "Rest up Courtney."

"Thank you," I smiled. I closed my eyes and laid my head back, falling into a peaceful sleep.

Once again there was hot breath on my neck, and I woke up to find Duncan right next to me on the hospital bed. "Hey there Princess," he smiled.

"Duncan!" I exclaimed happily. "I thought you were-"

"Hush," he interrupted, putting a finger on my mouth. "Let me talk. I hunted down Alejandro and killed him. I'm not in trouble with the cops because I killed him in self defense. And I'm really happy that you're okay. Because right before Alejandro was about to kill me I saw your beautiful face. And I knew that I had to come back to you." Duncan kissed my forehead. "So here I am."

I put a hand on his warm neck and pulled his forehead against mine. "When I slipped into darkness," I whispered, "I saw you there. And I knew that I had to fight to stay alive, and that I'm meant to be with you Duncan."

He smiled. "Really?"

"Really."

Then his lips crashed onto mine, and we shared our second kiss. This time, no one was here, and his arms wrapped around me and I pulled him as close to me as he could be. And we laid there and kissed all our angst away. And finally he broke off and gave me light kisses up and down my neck. "I love you," I whispered to him.

"Love you more," he answered, and kissed me again.

**Author's Note: **GWAAAAAAAHHHH! Aren't I just a huge sap? Maybe in this chapter. But Duncan and Courtney are my squishy romance exception! So even though I killed Alejandro in this chapter I still like him and Heather. What can I say, the two make great villains. *shrug*

I just want to say thank all of you so much for the reviews and reading this story. It truly does mean a lot. Will I do more? I think so, yes. And OF COURSE it will be DxC. But I still need to think of a plot so… yeah…

And this is the end of Proving Innocence! Thank you a million for reading it and I love all you guys! You readers are like salt a pepper. Why? Because salt and pepper is mandatory in any dish and without salt and pepper, this story wouldn't be much. So thank you! And *cough* please review! BYE! *dances*


End file.
